26 months – NO and MINE!

There are two things that stand out for The Toddler right now at 26 months. It is either “Mine”, or it is “No!”

It starts as soon as we get up:
“It is my bed/clothes/book/bag etc.!”
“It is my Papa/Mama/Sussie (sister)/Ouma (grandmother)/Oupa (grandfather)”
Or:
“It is Mama’s cell phone/car/comb etc.”

Everything gets assigned its proper place. And her sister gets it most of all! She starts to argue with her about something being hers. It is MY cookie! (Although Sister is not interested at all!)

We even had he following conversation in our car this afternoon:
“It is my sister!” (Meaning the same sister sitting next to her!)
“No, it is my sister!”  (Coming from the Teen) Back-and-forth!
Sometimes Most of the times The Teen can go right down to that level! I can just imagine what would have happened if they were nearer to each other in age...  It gets really ugly with The Toddler trying to hit The Teen out of frustration, and I have to say: “Enough already!”


I read most recently (sorry, I will put up the link as soon as I can remember where) that a toddler even answered “What are you doing?” with a “No!”
That is exactly the right description of Toddlerville! Everything is an emphatic “NO!”
“Do you want to bath?” “No!”
“Do you want to eat a banana?” “No!” etc. etc.
But Toddler baths/eats/plays with exactly those things that she just said “No!”to. We ignore and just continue...

Both the “Mine!” and the “No!” are most of the times very funny!
I understand: Our Toddler tries to get a grip on her world!