Oh, man. So "no" is a no-no but it's apparently okay to smoke crack because I can't see how these women could possibly think that you can raise a kid without no unless they are seriously, illegally, jaw-droppingly high.

Hmm. Must be nice.

Parenting without "No"? My children wouldn't know the sound of my voice...

Sheesh. Next thing you know, they'll be telling you not to velcro the kids to the walls.

Ah HA. This is kind of what I was ranting about a few weeks ago. Parents with no clue how to parent, and kids who get to college or their first job and FREAK COMPLETELY OUT when their boss says, "You screwed up bad on this report," instead of "Bossie is so proud of you for trying and using your best creative energy. Good Junior! Have a cookie!"

Parents: get a CLUE. Children need rules and boundaries to feel safe and to learn how to live in society. Sheesh.
alesia, shaking her head in a decidedly negative way

Thing Two thought his middle name was "NoNo" until he got to elementary school. :-)

Eileen

My brother and SIL just had their first baby yesterday. Can I just say without sounding horribly evil how much I'm looking forward to this baby showing them the real world? My bro and SIL didn't pick out a name because they weren't sure what they were having and "it was too hard to narrow it down" Ah, OK. They set up the baby's room into her gym because "they baby is going to have to get used to their noises. They're not changing for the baby. And this way SIL will be able to exercise while the baby sleeps"
HAHAHAHAHA - sorry. that one makes me laugh. Maybe I don't know everything about babies (and I don't) but I did have 2 and I have lots of Mom friends so I am looking forward to my brother and SIL (neither who have ever been around babies) finding out just what baby's are like. I just wish I lived closer to see it. :)
- Helen who uses "No!" on a regular basis even when it makes my sweet kids cry (No, you can not have fruit snacks at 7am)

As a "crunchy" AP Momma myself, I take great offense to your blog Whitney!
I can't believe you would subject such a sweet child to that horrible negativity. Next thing you are going to tell us he sleeps in his own room! By himself in the dark? Awful! Tell me? are you still breastfeeding him? I bet you aren't, otherwise he would still be close enough to you that your cues would be in sync and you wouldn't need to yell at him all the time.
Seriously, I think you need a major attitude readjustment!

..............Just kidding sweety! :) HA!

Hahahaha, Helen. BTDT, and boy, is it sweet that the in-laws who used to criticize our parenting (before they had kids) are now wondering how we got such well-behaved kids while theirs are hellions. Our nieces aren't really that bad--they're just not what their parents expected, which I find hilarious.

The great thing about using the word "no" often and consistently when your children are still quite small means that generally you have to use it less often as they grow older. By then just a "look" can be sufficient to quell whatever youthful mischief they are considering indulging themselves in! Also if helps define the word for the really important things that you want to insist that they don't do, such as drugs, premarital sex, and speeding down the interstate at 80+ mph! Having a firm grip on the meaning of such a simple word makes parenting in the teen years less likely to cause said parent to spend those years tearing their hair out and running in circles gibbering things like "But he was such a CUTE baby" and "I can't believe my little girl would even THINK of robbing that liquor store". It's called being a parent, folks. Get used to it. Keep up the good work Whitney--you'll be the one smiling serenely as you watch your son become the lawyer and those crunchy ladies kids are the ones he has to defend in criminal court! *grin*

I was just reading your review of "The Hound of the Baskervilles"... I love Sherlock Holmes too... did you know that Caleb Carr (The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness) wrote a Sherlock Holmes book? It's recently out in paperback...

Oh, my gosh! I missed out on velcro-ing my kid to the walls. I wish I had thought of it. Mine's 19 now, and I don't think I can get away with it any more. And I don't think I'll suggest this to his fraternity brothers, either.

I've done the velcro thing, seriously. The wall was outside and there was a LINE OF PARENTS wishing to do this to their children too.

It was quite fun! I now want a velcro wall in my basement...maybe, just to be incredibly evil, I'll throw him up there upside-down. >:)

Oh Whitney, the thing about parenting is that ou have to do what feels right to you, and d*amn everyone else. Really. After having six kids, I learned this lesson the long and hard way. My oldest is almost 14, my youngest just turned 5. The thing I find most annoying is when a mom of a firstborn newborn tries to give me parenting advice. I had one of them try to tell me that "NO" would ruin my child's self-esteem. Ruin her self-esteem? Wha'? Frankly, I don't care about her self-esteem as much as I do about Keeping her safe and alive. Self-esteem we can work on. There is no improving dead in the road.
Usually though, we go for the shock-responses. Old lady in store: "Why, you're children are all so well behaved. How do you do it?"
response(usually given in a sweet voice with a smile): "Well, we threaten them with a leather belt with big metal spikes if they don't behave. It only takes one or two whacks for them to see our point. We hardly ever have to hit them anymore."

And no, I don't hit my kids with a spiked leather belt...very often.
(Just KIDDING. Sheesh!!)