The 'Hokkien Pai' terrible two

Sarah has been putting us through her terrible two antics for quite a while, ever since she discovered the power of 'NO'. She has blatanly defied her parents in public by refusing to walk, to come down the stairs, to hold hand while crossing the road, to leave the supermarket........ Every visit to the supermarket is traumatic for us, it almost always end with a wrestling match, force has to be used to evacuate her out of the supermarket. The most tricky sections are the fruits section, where she must grab the apples; and the cashier counter, as they have colourful wide variety of candies on display besides the cashier.

Even though saying 'NO' is a norm attribute of the terrible two, she has left us scratching our heads as she uses 'MAI' instead of no'. Mai is the hokkien for no, no one in our family, extended family or school speaks any dialect to her. She will 'MAI' at us loudly and swings her arm wildly and furiously like a drama queen.