No, No, No -- What Else is a Parent to Say?

Written by Michele R. Acosta


The word no is probablyrepparttar most overused word inrepparttar 150841 English language. I speak from experience since I myself use it frequently.

I might begin a normal day by saying, "No, Joshua, you may not have a hotdog for breakfast," or "No, Alex, please don't throw your cereal onrepparttar 150842 floor." After breakfast, I might say, "No, Joshua, don't hit your brother," or "No, Alex, don't kick your brother."

While I'm making lunch, I usually need to tell Alex, "No, you cannot climb ontorepparttar 150843 kitchen table." By early afternoon, which isrepparttar 150844 time of day I set aside for my work, I usually find myself telling Joshua, "No, you cannot wake Alex from his nap" or "No! Don't touch Mommy's computer!"

By late afternoon, I find myself saying either one or a combination ofrepparttar 150845 following: "No, you cannot climb onrepparttar 150846 dresser"; "No, you cannot sit onrepparttar 150847 dresser"; "No, you cannot jump off ofrepparttar 150848 dresser." By early evening my repertoire usually includes, "No, boys, you cannot crash your cars intorepparttar 150849 walls" and "No, Alex, you cannot eatrepparttar 150850 cookie you've dropped onrepparttar 150851 floor. No! You can't takerepparttar 150852 dirty cookie out ofrepparttar 150853 garbage!" On any given day, byrepparttar 150854 time my sons are securely tucked into their beds and are soundly sleeping - that can be anywhere from 8:00 until 11:00 - I have probably usedrepparttar 150855 word no at least one-hundred times.

No has little value in our household, which I look upon as a microcosm ofrepparttar 150856 world at large. People habitually ignore signs saying: no parking, no smoking, or no loitering. Last night, I watched a man park his car in a parking place reserved forrepparttar 150857 handicapped. Althoughrepparttar 150858 car had a handicapped parking permit displayed properly, none ofrepparttar 150859 four people who emerged fromrepparttar 150860 car had any visible handicap.

People generally look upon an answer of no as a challenge. Romantic movies are filled with plots in whichrepparttar 150861 guy doesn't give up until he getsrepparttar 150862 girl and they live happily ever after. If so many adults fail to respond torepparttar 150863 word no, then how can I expect anything different from two small children? The answer is that I cannot expect anything different, yet breakingrepparttar 150864 "no habit" is a difficult prospect.

With such blatant overuse,repparttar 150865 word no has obviously lost its meaning; at least it has lost its meaning for my sons. The more often I say no,repparttar 150866 less often my sons respond to it; it is as if a viscous circle has taken overrepparttar 150867 discipline in our household. If I had not already recognizedrepparttar 150868 overuse of this two-letter-word which has invaded my home, I would have been startled when Alex, my almost-two-year-old son, began saying, "No-no-no. No-no-no." He has even been known to chant "no-no-no, no-no-no," while walking throughrepparttar 150869 house with a cup of juice. I console myself withrepparttar 150870 thought that he at least understands that juice does not belong outside ofrepparttar 150871 kitchen.

I find this to be a very difficult situation. With boys like mine, I cannot sit idly by waiting for a witty response to hit me inrepparttar 150872 face. It is more likely that they will hit each other inrepparttar 150873 face - or somewhere else. My greatest concern is that one day they will be in a dangerous situation (thinking, of course, that they are having great fun) and that my warnings will go unheeded because no has no meaning for them. Not that jumping off of dressers and climbing on tables are not potentially dangerous situations; this isrepparttar 150874 reason why I do not waste time on brilliantly creative responses which would satisfyrepparttar 150875 gurus of child psychology before mobilizing into action. It simply seems that climbing and jumping are commonplace occurrences in my house. In retrospect, it is easy to tell myself that I should have been more creative in formulating responses to my sons' exuberance and zest for life; however, inrepparttar 150876 midst of two boys rolling onrepparttar 150877 floor with legs and arms flailing,repparttar 150878 word closest at hand is usually: No!

Who Does Your Insurance Agent Work For?

Written by Jordan Walt


You, or His Company....?

There’s a relatively unknown market inrepparttar insurance industry that consumers need to know about. This is a market where a single agent can offer you multiple choices from multiple companies. This isrepparttar 150817 independent insurance agency market. When you have an independent agent (IA) who you know and trust, you shouldn’t have to find a new agent again. As an IA you haverepparttar 150818 ability to “shop” a customer with numerous insurance companies, finding themrepparttar 150819 best rate and coverage, so they don’t have to. Imagine what happensrepparttar 150820 next timerepparttar 150821 renewal comes on your insurance andrepparttar 150822 premium is suddenly $500 higher than it was before. With an IA, all you need to do is call. They haverepparttar 150823 ability to try and find a similar policy with another company; you haven’t changed agents, given personal information to strangers, or gone throughrepparttar 150824 monotonous task of shopping your insurance. Instead, you left it to an expert. Depending onrepparttar 150825 size ofrepparttar 150826 agency you are dealing with, they may represent over 20 different companies. This means you no longer have to go online and fill inrepparttar 150827 boxes, deal with 1-800 numbers, or “call-around” to different agents, each with one company to choose from. Why have so few people heard of this market? While these companies do represent multimillion-dollar organizations, and some ofrepparttar 150828 largest organizations inrepparttar 150829 world (i.e. AIG and Zurich),repparttar 150830 majority of these agencies are smaller companies, not havingrepparttar 150831 resources to launch advertising campaigns torepparttar 150832 mainstream market via television, radio, and other forms of media advertising.

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