The No Monster

{The following is an ADR Fic Bit.}

The twins begged to go to that dirty pet shop near the bus stop. They begged like this every day, teetering on tantrums. And every day, their mother said no. There were so many better places to go. Museums. Parks. Even playgrounds. Well, the ones without sandboxes.

The mother was scared. She'd been to the shop with them once and wouldn't go back. She didn’t like the smell. She didn’t like the cages all lined up. She didn’t like the animals there. They were shriveled and sick and the mother worried that her boys would be there and an angry little creature would find a way to bite them, or drop dead while her boys looked on. Her biggest fear though was that one of her boys would fall in love with some swollen red-eyed rat and beg for it and she would become even more of a monster for saying no.

Once, her boys called her the No Monster. They thought this name wildly hilarious, and when they said it, actually chanted it, they succumbed to spirals of near-demonic laughter. The mother joined them in their cackles - out of pure nervousness.

But later on that night, she sobbed. For her, the word No was like an onion. It made her cry. But still she peeled it over and over.

Are you more of a Yes Parent or a No Parent? Were you raised by Yes Parents or No Parents? How do you feel when you say No to your kids? How do you feel when you say Yes?