How ‘bout?

Toddlers are customarily known for saying “no, no, no”. It is often among the first words they learn and a favorite to use. Sandy and I theorized that those toddlers are simply repeating the word they hear most often. Wishing to avoid programming our children in this way, we made an intentional effort to use the word “no” as little as possible. Sandy’s solution to this challenge is redirection. When one of the boys wished to do something unacceptable, Sandy would say, “How about we read a book instead?”, or “How about we play with this toy instead?” While we both became quite proficient at avoiding the “no” word, each boy learned to use it expertly anyway. Now that their vocabulary has grown, we are seeing Sandy’s trick used on us. When directed to prepare for bed, Benji has begun to redirect by saying “How ‘bout we read a book instead?”