"No" Means "No", Right?

As a mother, I constantly find myself saying the word "no". "No, you can't have a snack." "No, we can't play in the rain." "No, you can't play with that toy in the bathtub." Well, you get the idea.

And as the mother of a boy, it is my duty to teach him that when a girl says no, it means no.

But, in recent weeks months, I've come to realize that there are many, many instances when the word "no" means something entirely different...it means "yes".

Here are a few examples:

When your almost-two year old is standing beside you in the kitchen waving a sippy cup at you, and you ask, "Would you like something to drink?", "no" means "yes"

When your almost-four year old slaps his hand down over the front of his pants, and you ask, "Did you pee in your pants?", "no" means "yes"

When your almost-two year old is squatting in the middle of the kitchen making facing, and you ask, "Do you need a new diaper?", "no" doesn't always mean "yes". You can detemine the meaning of "no" on this occasion by two ways: (1) smell or (2) sight. Trust me on this one; smell is usually the preferred method because by the time you can see it, someone needs a bath & the carpet needs to be cleaned!

When your almost-four year old slips and says a curse words, and you say, "Did you just say 'shit'?", "no" means "yes"

Please note: There are MANY other instances when the word "no" actually means "yes". The blogger is not responsible for temper tantrums that erupt when the word is misinterpreted.