my mother said NO

Before being pregnant I thought that the single thing I would be concerned about would be labor and all the horror stories that come with it. Surprisingly, I'm very relaxed about it and welcome it as a natural process. After all, women have been doing it for millions of years! I'm not special. 

What has truly worried me is the responsibility of educating another human being. This is what keeps my up at night (this and pregnancy insomnia!). I look upon my own upbringing and how it largely shaped the person I am today.  

Now this is the part where one generation mocks the other. 

We bought some books to read up on child development and education, just to get an idea of what to except. One such book is "When to say no to a child" by Robert Langis. When I was in Portugal, my mother saw me reading it and immediately called my dad and both started teasing me about it! You see, my parents both have the basic portuguese education and both were raised in a time of real hardship. And when it came to raising my sisters and I, they didn't buy books on child education or watch videos on how to change diapers, they followed their instincts and knew what they would do different. 

My mother said to me: "You don't need to read a book on how to say no, just remember how we raised you: we said NO to you all the time!"

This is so true. Loving parents say no more often then they say yes.