When No Means Yes

Lately, Tristan is very focused on the word "no". almost anything anyone asks him will be met with a quick negative. Loud, quiet, whiny, rude, polite, you name it and we’ve gotten it when it comes to this word. You could call it the automatic response of a preschooler, I guess. I had no idea one simple word could be said with such variety! Humor enters the situation when he really wants to say yes, but no pops out instead. He actually has to stop mid-no and force himself to say yes! IE, "n- yes!" Sometimes, no even means yes. I personally think this is because no has become so ingrained and habitual for him that he sticks with it regardless of what he actually means. I’ve noticed that this particular type of no is usually used when he doesn’t WANT to do something, but he knows an answer is required. So, he will say no (in whichever verbal style happens to be the flavor of the day) and then in fact listen to what I’ve asked him to do. Nice bit of sleuthing on my part to figure this out, isn’t it? I should win an award or something. I guess I’ll have to settle for the satisfaction of knowing that I’m getting early practice for those teenage years ahead…