Just Say No

KATE SIDLEY HAS A RADICAL SUGGESTION FOR PARENTS: DON’T NEGOTIATE, JUST SAY NO!

- Kate Sidley

Somebody clever once said: ‘Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.’ The same goes for arguing with young children. No matter how rational and authoritative you start out, if you carry on long enough you somehow find yourself sounding like a four-year-old. When you hear yourself saying things like, ‘Well icky boo to you too…’, you can safely say you’ve lost.

Behind me at the till at the Spar the other day was a young mom with a kid of about four. He asked rather tentatively for a particular sweetie toy thing, which includes chocolate, and inside is a toy, generally made of a few tiny bits of plastic (you know the one I mean). She said calmly and pleasantly, ‘You can’t have it. Not now and not ever. I have decided I am not buying those again.’ He withdrew the pointing finger with no more than a slight sigh of disappointment.

I couldn’t resist: ‘That was very clear.’