Where do you draw the line....
We have never force fed Ichu. It was a conscious effort from our part to respect her no. The other day we had visited Momo's parents' place at Kannur and Ichu was full of joy meeting her first cousin Kunji. She is 6 months old and may I say what a wonderful baby she is. One fine evening while Ichu and Kunji were playing, Momo's mother got them steamed bananas. Ichu happily devoured as her granny lovingly fed her. It was Kunji's turn then. But no, she wasn't in a mood to eat. Amma kept trying to feed and she kept her mouth shut firmly. Ichu was watching all this carefully. I suggested we give her food a little later. By the way Ichu now understands malayalam really well. Amma in the mean time managed to distract Kunji and while she opened her mouth to express her surprise, amma slyly pushed some banana inside her mouth. Kunji was visibly upset. I don't blame amma because this is the tradition that we follow or rather have been following for years. Ichu on the other hand had a completely different expression. She screamed in anger, pushed the plate away and stood in front of Kunji. She didn't have words to express hence she started crying. The whole room wondered what triggered this reaction and while I decoded the situation, we realized it was my baby daughter standing up for her younger sister who just said No.

It was extraordinary. I was proud of my little lady who is just 1 year 6 months old. I stood there with tears of joy in my eyes knowing that somewhere I am healing my inner child while I raise my baby girl. No is a no and no is a full sentence.

No is a full sentence. Period!