The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her standing there with that book. You know the book. The one that you have read at least three times a day for the last week. In this case it was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, much loved for the moment at our house. It was 6:30 AM and the first thing she said to me was, “Mom, can you read this to me?”
“Yes, I will read that book to you.” Happy, she danced about and chatted with me as I got up to start my day. The funny thing is, one thing after another happened with the baby, breakfast, life, etc. and we never really sat down to read the book until after lunch. That didn’t matter, though. What mattered and set the tone was my “yes” to the original request.
Many, many times the requests are simple to fulfill, but they really make the recipient’s day. Like this photo:
I was taking photos of the Christmas tree and had left the tripod sitting out. The next day John saw it in the corner, and being a boy, was all over this new contraption, asking a million questions about how to set it up and how it worked. Finally he asked, “Will you take my picture with that?” Of course the last thing I wanted to do was drag out the camera and set up the tripod, but really it only took about five minutes and that small “yes” made him so happy. As a bonus, I got a cute picture.
But if I am honest, saying yes while knee-deep in the daily workings of keeping a house, nursing a toddler, making meals and running a homeschool is not always an automatic thing. It takes effort on my part to stop that “no” or “not right now” that wants to fall so easily from my lips and replace it with a “well, why not?” So I propose a bit of accountability.
Here on these pages each Wednesday I will post the above graphic (feel free to snag it), an example of how I said yes this week (ah, the pressure) and a Mr. Linky so that you can join in on the “yes” party. I would love to see all the ways we can think of to say yes to our kids each week. Join me?
Pam is the author of The Your Morning Basket Guide and Plan Your Year: Homeschool Planning for Purpose and Peace. She also is the host of three popular podcasts -- The Homeschool Snapshots Podcast, Your Morning Basket, and The Homeschool Solutions Show. She lives in the Deep South with her husband and three kids, where she is the go-to lady for great curriculum recommendations or a just a pep talk on a rough day.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her standing there with that book. You know the book. The one that you have read at least three times a day for the last week. In this case it was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, much loved for the moment at our house. It was 6:30 AM and the first thing she said to me was, “Mom, can you read this to me?”
