"no ma'am"

Seriously, how many times a day do I say this? Hannah's yanking the laptop cord out of the wall. No ma'am. She's pulling the books off the bookshelves. No ma'am. She's throwing magazines off the tables onto the floor. No ma'am. She's swirling her hands around in the toilet. No ma'am. And so it goes...

She has so many things to play with, plus the new toys she got for her birthday. There's a whole area in the living room designated for her new toys - blocks, a tea set, a drum and other music noise-makers, a purse filled with all sorts of things, a play mat that makes animal sounds, sweet plush animals - including a ladybug and octopus and pull-along caterpillars. She'll play for a minute or two, and then she roams around finding something to do that will annoy me. And I'm quite sure she knows it. Just as her hand reaches up to pull the plug out of the wall, she'll turn around and look at me sometimes even before I say her name. Guilty as charged.

Now I know people say you have to "pick your no's." So I try not to say no to everything I don't approve of, just the stuff that's definitely a no - for example, things that can hurt her. So if she's playing with a nasty dog toy, we'll take it and put one of her toys in her hand instead. But what about things that can hurt me? I mean not physically, but drive me crazy? I have all my design magazines on the built-ins in the living room. I do not want them torn. (And before you say anything, we do not have high shelves. All our shelves are conveniently located within Hannah's reach.) Perhaps I should get over it, but I don't like the whole "if it's not broken, it's not our's" mentality. We should be able to have some things that are not torn, broken, or stained. Hannah, however, thinks they are the most fun things to play with. First she pulls - or throws them off the shelf - then she goes after the covers, either with her hands or mouth. I get there, say "no ma'am" and then pick her up and relocate her to the middle of her toy mecca. And we play this fetching game most of the day.

We have definitely seen the toy-is-not-as-fun-as-the-box-it-came-in game. Hannah loves paper, bubble wrap, and cardboard boxes. But she is obsessed with other things as well. Included are the dog bowls - empty or not, the basket of shoes in the laundry closet (we must keep the door closed at all times or we'll find her chewing on flip flops), and the dishwasher (cannot load while she is around). These are no ma'ams too. So I guess I might say it too much. Oh well. Who's counting?

Here's the little mischievous bug:

Daddy rushing to unload the dishwasher before the "help" gets there.