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Like most children, my own brood complains constantly about my style of parenting. "You’re always saying 'No'," they complain, as I tell them they can’t have yet more mayonnaise on their dinner. 像大多数孩子们一样，我自己的孩子也一直抱怨我对他们的养育方式。晚饭时当我告诉他们不能再吃蛋黄酱的时侯，他们抱怨说"你总是说'不'。" "It’s bad for you," I say. "So, no, you can’t." 我说:"再吃对你们的健康不好，不，你们不能再吃了。" "You say no to everything,"says Leonard, aged eight. 八岁的Leonard说："你对任何事情都说不。" He and his younger siblings — Jerry, six, and Ottoline, three — then list everything I have said ‘No’ to since they got home from school. Sweets, playing outside with their uniform on, biscuits, getting stuff out from drawer, painting … 他和弟弟妹妹们——6岁的Jerry和3岁的Ottoline列了一张清单，上面写着他们从学校回家后我说的所有的"不"。糖果、在外面穿着校服玩、饼干、从抽屉里拿东西、画画…… I’ve always considered myself a pretty easy-going parent, and yet here they are telling me I’m a nay-saying harridan. 我一直认为我是一个脾气很好的妈妈，但是他们竟然说我是一个总说"不"的老巫婆。 According to the currently fashionable idea of ‘free parenting’, though, what I should be saying is ‘Yes’. | 
