I have been down several paths with my thoughts for this interesting challenge. Having grandchildren and children of my own I realise how often we say 'no' to stop them doing something dangerous or harmful or just plain wrong or inappropriate. Children mimic and copy adults so often this is one of the first spoken words.
I remember doing an experiment with our third child, where I would use 'yes' more often than 'no' to see what would happen when he began speaking. Of course it should not have come as a surprise when indeed, 'yes' was one of his early words, displacing 'no'! I can report he was not scarred for life by this small shift in behavioural conditioning!
Looking forward to see what everyone comes up with.
I remember doing an experiment with our third child, where I would use 'yes' more often than 'no' to see what would happen when he began speaking. Of course it should not have come as a surprise when indeed, 'yes' was one of his early words, displacing 'no'! I can report he was not scarred for life by this small shift in behavioural conditioning!
Looking forward to see what everyone comes up with.
Great experiment. No is such an integral part of a 1-2 year old's vocabulary - it really is a full sentence! I'm really struggling with the concept of "no" as a positive thing. The results of this challenge are going to be interesting!
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