Janusfinder
girl with deep summer tan jumping on bed while wearing a sun dress
No. It’s almost always the first word learned by babies and puppies. As we grow older, that generic “no” expands and becomes more complex. No, don’t play with your food. No, you can’t go outside naked. No, don’t jump on the bed.
The fact that mothers throughout the world repeat this instruction proves one thing: kids are born with the instinct to jump on the bed. We can train them not to do it of course, but it’s not natural; it’s like training a left-handed person to be right-handed.
That instinct never really leaves us. All our lives we’ll be tempted to jump on the bed…to quit our jobs and become poets, to announce we’re passionately in love to Oprah on live television, to celebrate retirement by buying a two-seater convertible.
Don’t jump on the bed? You might as well tell the tides not to turn. For kids, that’s what beds are for.
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