I could easily file this as the latest installment of “Weird Things My Kids Did Volume whatever” but it wasn’t so much weird as irritating. And funny.
Declan’s favorite helper Mr. Rick was coming over to play with him on Sunday, which meant the anticipation of his arrival had him bouncing off the walls. I always debate whether to tell him these things are happening or whether to just surprise him, and while I generally err on the side of keeping him informed of his schedule, the 90 minutes or so after he woke up and before his friend’s arrival were tumultuous.
For probably 15 minutes, every request or question I posed to him was met with a “no.” “Declan, I want you to come sit at the table and eat breakfast before Mr. Rick comes.” “No.” “Declan, we need to stop watching TV and get dressed.” “No.” Etcetera. And given that it’s Declan, he was not satisfied just responding “no” to my queries or requests — he felt the need to say it multiple times in response to everything I said.
After a few minutes of this, I was getting annoyed. After the 73rd consecutive “no,” and because — for better or worse — I tend to talk to him as though he were neurotypical, I finally said to him, “Declan, I think we are done with ‘no’ this morning, I don’t want to hear that again.”
He turned away from the TV, looked me straight in the eyes and said, “no.”
Well played little man. Well played. There are times when our dude seems absolutely lost in the world and completely overwhelmed with what’s around him. And then there are time when he steps up and surprises me with his awareness and humor. I don’t really know what I expected to happen, although sometimes similar pleas will be met with an “okay.” In this case, I had to tip my cap, laugh to myself and take the loss. He wins this round. We will play again.
