My daughter is almost 5 and I’ve made a conscious effort to stop doing whatever I’m doing if she says stop or no.

For example, tickling. If I’m tickling and she says stop, I stop immediately with no back talk.

Or if I’m copying her in a joking way (we both do it to each other from time to time) and she says stop, that’s it. We’re done.

When I’m snuggling with her after reading books before bed, she feels comfortable enough to say, “you can go now” and I that’s it. I leave with no complaints.

In non-safety situations I ask if I can hold her hand. If she says no, that’s it, I’m not holding her hand. Parking lots are a different matter.

I will continue this throughout her entire upbringing so that if (ok, when) someone continues to do something she has said stop or no to, it will be unambiguously wrong to her.

Later when I explain that “no” is a complete sentence, it should feel intuitive.