That’s so adorable haha

I think saying NO is toddlers’ way of asserting their independence and testing the waters to see how far they can go. Doesn’t help with their temper tantrums. Once, my boy had a standoff with my wife and mother-in-law and only had his dinner at 10pm! But knowing that it’s typical child development reminds me that plenty of parents have gotten through it - and so will I

cryotosensei

What shocked you about parenting?

I met another dad at the playground today and we were sharing some of our parenting experiences. Our kids were about the same age and many of our struggles have been similar.

We started talking about how our kids are at a stage of development where they dissent with everything we try to do. It could be asking if they want ice cream and we'll get an adamant "no" (my daughter actually has very good manners, so we get an adamant "NO THANK YOU!" often followed by a raspberry).