Saying Yes Even When It Is Hard

Sometimes being the mom you want to be comes down to saying yes even when it is hard.  It’s saying yes when all you really want to do is say no, but you are able to look beyond the reasons and give in anyway.

It’s 50 degrees outside with not a stitch of sunlight as far as the eye can see.  It’s warmer than it’s been the past 3 months, no doubt.   But it’s certainly not bathing suit weather…and it’s certainly not on my agenda for my 2 girls to get in one today.

But, spoiler alert….that’s exactly what they did this past Saturday.  

On a breezy winter day, I was the mom who looked like she had lost her mind.  I helped my 4 and 6 year old find ill-fitting bathing suits from last summer, a bucket of water, water guns and a hose.  

And I let them go at it for a brief (but fun) 10 minutes. And they loved every minute of it.  There were shrieks that could be heard down the block.

And I almost missed out on it.  On the pure joy of it. 

Because saying yes was inconvenient.  

SOMETIMES “YES” IS SO INCONVENIENT

Isn’t that how parenting is so often?  

We have so much to do, so many errands to run, so much homework to help with, so many appointments to make.

There is dinner to make and clothes to wash and floors to vacuum.

We are trying so hard to check off our to-do lists, we completely forget that to-do of having fun.

Of being a little reckless…of getting off a schedule…of saying yes when every bone in our body and cell in our brain is screaming No, No, for the love of all that is good just say No!

But we surprise our kids…and ourselves…and say yes.

IT’S SAYING YES…

It’s saying yes when they ask to go around the block just one more time.

It’s saying yes when they beg you to paint their fingernails even though you know it will all be picked off in approximately 23 minutes.

It’s saying yes when they want to pull out play-doh…enough said.

It’s saying yes when you need to start dinner but you sit down and let your hair be fixed in the “beauty shop.”

It’s saying yes to that extra round of Uno even though bedtime was 3o minutes ago.

It’s saying yes to the most mundane of requests that in the grand scheme of things, you KNOW will have zero impact on today and the biggest impact on your kids in the long run.

So here’s to throwing caution to the wind today.  

Here’s to letting your kids play in the rain.  Here’s to letting your kids ice the cookies and add sprinkles.

Here’s to saying yes…even when it’s inconvenient.