Do you often find yourself saying NO to your children when they ask you something?
I’m not talking about saying no to things that it’s reasonable to say no to – going out after dark, eating too much of the wrong stuff and staying up too late on the Xbox are some of the things that come to mind when I mean things that it’s reasonable to say no to.
My question should really be phrased a bit differently I guess because the point I’m trying to make is that sometimes when our children ask us a question, we say no without a very good reason.
We might say no to a trip to the beach of to the park because we’re busy but actually there’s nothing that won’t wait until a bit later or we might say no to having pudding before tea because it seems silly but it does no harm every once in a while and it’s fun to do.
What about saying no to toasting marshmallows in the garden just because it’s cold or say no to getting an ice cream at the beach because it’s not Summer. Who says you can’t wrap up warm and have just as much, if not more, fun doing these things in the Winter than you’d have in the warmer weather.
Then there’s saying no to things that we’re not ready as parents to let our children do but deep down we know that they’re more than ready. It’s our own worries that are stopping them from growing as they need to grow.
Life’s too short to say no when we don’t have to and genuinely, some of my favourite family memories have been times when I almost said no. It won’t be long before they’ll be all grown up and you’ll wish you’d said yes more when they were younger.
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mary · 437 weeks ago
asmallerlifelivingsimpler 16p · 437 weeks ago
It was always oh so easy to say a sharp NO when I was busy or could not think of a way to do something. If they asked me a question at an awkward time I would just say 'give me a minute to think'. None times out of ten they got a yes if they patiently waited or just didn't push for an immediate answer. This also taught them a little bit of patience and not to leave asking me questions until the last minute.
asmallerlifelivingsimpler 16p · 437 weeks ago
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