the word 'NO'

the word 'no' is coming out of the little miss's mouth very often lately. i know it's a toddler thing and she is trying to stand her ground and become her own person, but i guess i am surprised because we try to avoid that word and save it for more serious situations.

usually when lyla is doing something that is dangerous or getting into something she isn't supposed to, we tell her 'that's not for (insert what she was doing)' and then we tell her what it's for or who it's for and if it's dangerous tell her why. if she ignores us, we try distraction and redirection.

we prefer this method, instead of constantly saying 'no' and it seems to be working for us. she seems to understand and it usually helps prevent a tantrum. but she still insists on saying 'no' to getting dressed, brushing teeth, and other things we may NEED to do. i like giving her choices and letting her decide what she wants to do so if it isn't needed, then i don't bother. 

so lately i've had to have some tricky choices. when transition time and warnings about time to get dressed or whatever we have to do doesn't work, i have to get creative. i have to come up with two choices, one that i know she isn't going to pick (hopefully) and then the obvious one that we need to do. sometimes it won't work, but usually it does.

for those of you with toddlers, what are your tricks and tips to getting necessary things done?

here's to a 'YES' day!