No!

That's a word I hear very often. OK, very very often. But in this house, "We don't say no to a mommy." So there are alot of quick, sweet apologies and even sometimes, the not so quick, time outs.

What do you do with a child who says it instinctively? Knee jerk reaction. NO! Poor girl won't see the rest of the house for about 3 years, if she sat in her room and thought about it, every time she started off like that. NO!

This morning started out like a typical Sunday morning. I'm wishing I could sleep some more and the rascals are fighting about who watches their show first. I get up and see them at the foot of my bed and I am in disbelief. How did that birds nest get in my bedroom?! Then I realize, as she turns her sweet face to me, that it is the back of her hair... and it truly looks like a birds nest.

Her hair has always been an issue. We (meaning I) always have to work very hard keeping it looking shiny and smooth every day. I have bought conditioners and no knots spray and washed her hair and brushed it immediately or washed it and brushed it while the conditioner is in. Nothing is foolproof. After we wished each other a good morning and talked about the show they wanted to watch, I said, " After Scooby Doo is over, I am going to put you in a bath and we are going to condition your hair so it'll be smooth and pretty."

NO!! Before I finished my sentence. NO!! Again. Just to make sure I heard. So intense. Why is a bath so threatening. Or is it just the fact that I am asking her to do something she doesn't want to do? I say what I say, when they tell me NO! " We don't say no to a mommy. Would you like to rephrase that?" Now, I just want you to know that I have no problem listening to my kids thoughts and opinions on matters. I just expect them to make their feelings clear in a respectful manner. NO!! is not an option. She just kept saying NO! I asked her to leave my room and she said NO!! I told her that it was unacceptable to speak to me that way. I told her to try and rephrase that and she said NO!!. Every time she said it, it took on new intensity. NO!!NO!!NO!!

Was this a tic? A NO!! tic? I was confused. Flustered. I crawled back under my covers and took 5. I decided under the covers that it most certainly was NOT a tic. Crawled right back out and said, " You need to leave my room and think about the way you are speaking to me. We don't say NO!! to a mommy. We could talk about this, but you need to be respectful." And she said, NO!!. So she was out of my room and yelling all kinds of fabulous things at me as she went to her room. As I opened my mouth to give her the "you are grounded till you're 30" she came back and said, " I am sorry mommy. But I don't wanna take a bath today. I'll take one tomorrow. Is that OK?" The thought of never watching TV again till she was 30 scared the living daylights of her. That's what got me my apology.

We worked it out and she got one of the no knots sprays . She sat in front of me and I sprayed and brushed and sprayed and brushed for 30 minutes. She watched her favorite show and I brushed her birds nest away. OW! My shoulder hurt from all of that brushing and pulling at knots and freeing the nest.

I feel bad about the homeless birds..bye bye birdies..but not bad enough to keep this birds nest around.

When we were done, I said, " Please go get dressed . We are going out soon." And she said, NO!!


I am waving a white flag. I give up.