Stop!

Monkey LOVES to be tickled. He loves it so much that Duhdee has been known to tickle him a little too long and has had to face the consequences ((Nothing a dry shirt could not cure.)). Recently Duhdee was tickling Monkey, on our new big, big bed ((The big bed having moved into Monkey’s room.)), and mid-tickle Monkey cried out, “Stop!” He’s never, ever done that before! Duhdee stopped and Monkey ran to the bathroom so I’m not going to whine about an accident on our new mattress ((Not that I would anyway, we bought a waterproof cover for it, we have two senior dogs and a kid who likes to be tickled, we are not stupid!)).

Instead I’m going to tell you how Monkey has discovered the power of the word “Stop,” which is fantastic! He used it to protect himself and I was hoping he would generalize that in the event he ever needs to communicate to a peer to cut that $hit out. Right? It’s awesome.

What I didn’t expect is that he’d generalize it to e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. including putting an end to Duhdee and I holding hands or hugging! So, now we need to rein in the little monster and clarify which situations where he can expect someone to honor his request and which situations he needs to just leave the room, roll his eyes and say, “Gross ((I am actively teaching him this one!))!” like any other kid.