Yes I’ll make cinnamon-chip muffins
Yes we have Daddy juice
Yes you can wear shorts today
Yes there are clean socks in the laundry basket in my room
Yes you have PE today (so wear your sneakers, too)
Yes I’ll pack yogurt in your lunch
Yes I’ll pack a granola bar in your snack
Yes it’s my turn to drive you to school today
Yes you have to brush your teeth
Yes I’m picking you up from school, too
Yes your friend M can come over to play
Yes I’ll make popcorn
Yes you can jump on the (neighbor’s) trampoline
Yes you can have (another) snack
Yes I’ll read you a book
Yes we can have pizza for dinner
Yes you can have a popsicle
Yes, outside
Yes you can take a shower in the morning (instead of a bath tonight)
Yes you can wear short pajamas
Yes you have to brush your teeth
Yes it’s my turn to read tonight
Yes you can look at extra books
Yes I’ll check on you in six minutes
Yes. I love you. My first born. Yes.
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Most of you know that our blog friend Aidan Donnelly Rowley’s debut novel Life After Yes is released today. TODAY! So, if you’re not already enjoying the advanced copy you were so forward-thinking to order, hop on over to your local bookstore now or visit Aidan’s book page for a look-see. Take a break from Five for Ten and cozy up with Aidan’s fine work. I’m halfway through the book, and I can’t wait to finish!
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We will send a copy of Life After Yes to our favorite Yes post in the linky. So link up and, as always, we’ll get busy reading.
Read More in home, Jen Writes, motherhood, oldest child, three kids
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Oh, Jen, clearly we were on the same wavelength. Yes is a word we’re not conditioned to use liberally with our kids. But what is we did?How would we feel? What would happen?
And you’ll be happy saying it to him all day, because no matter how tedious it gets they do light our lives don’t they?!
And Aidan, you are here!! It’s today!! Congratulations. May this be all that you hoped it would.
.-= Christine LaRocque´s last blog ..Good enough =-.
I’m still drooling over the thought of cinnamon-chip muffins … Yes, yes, yes! =>
And you deserve one! Send me your address and I’ll send you a batch!
Your “day of Yes” sounds exhausting! (And like how a “day of Yes” with my first-born would be.)
I love this, but I must ask what “Daddy Juice” is. I know someone who refers to wine as “gramma juice”. Ok, I tried to link, don’t know if Mr. Linky accepted me or not…I know you must be glad this is the last entry for him! This Five for Ten has been a great challenge for me as the topics really had me struggling a couple of times. Thank you for hosting and putting Mr. Linky in his place for me!
.-= Suzicate´s last blog ..Freaks, Geeks, And Squeaks =-.
Ha Ha Ha. Gramma juice–I love it. Daddy juice is juice of the cranberry variety. Mommy juice is orange juice. And apple juice is for the girls. Yup. I buy three different kinds of milk, too!
Oh thank goodness. thought I was the only one who did that.
Daddy juice is pop in our house, Mummy juice is raspberry and the boys, Apple Juice!
.-= Jane Swinglehurst´s last blog ..Baby Lust =-.
We do that at our house too, except with cereal. Daddy cereal, Mommy cereal, Big Boy cereal. I love learning that what I took to be family idiosyncrasies are actually more common than I thought.
.-= Kristen @ Motherese´s last blog ..Yes. (And Life After It.) =-.
Yes, what exactly is “daddy juice”?
I will also be saying “yes” all day to my first born. It’s so hard not to.
Thank you for a wonderful journey over the past few days. It was an excellent experience!
.-= Alisha´s last blog ..A note to (our)self(s) =-.
I want to know about the daddy juice, too! Here that would be mountain dew. [I know, gross, but hubs loves it.]
.-= Hyacynth´s last blog ..Five for Ten: Memories and lust =-.
Oh, what a busy Yes day! Sometimes we take the easy route and say No, but I’d like to try one day of Yes (within reason, of course) to see how it goes. I’m sure it would be fun! Even if I had to play Monopoly. :-P
PS: Mr. Linky doesn’t seem to like me today. I will try one more time, but I might need help!
Yay! It worked (after about 6 tries)! :-)
We haven’t gotten to Monopoly yet. But can I just say Chutes and Ladders? OMG. WHY is that game still on the market? Ugh. I can so rarely say YES to that one.
Parenthood requires such an outpouring of YES. For so many good and important reasons. And sometimes, YES, because it’s easier and we’re so tired. And sometimes, YES, because it’s habit. And that’s when we begin to slide unwittingly into dangerous territory.
But these lovely YES moments here are largely the delights and duties of parenting in ways that teach unconditional love. And your list is – for me – both pleasurable and nostalgic to read.
.-= BigLittleWolf´s last blog ..People Pleasers: Just Say No =-.
I love that you had to say yes twice to: you have to brush your teeth. Sounds like my house, complete with the popsicle OUTside.
.-= TheKitchenWitch´s last blog ..Five for Ten: Lust =-.
Yeah, it’s more like. BRUSH YOUR TEETH! (Cuz I’ve had to tell him seventeemmilliontimesbefore 8:30 am).
Ours is BRUSH YOUR TEETH AND COMB YOUR HAIR – often said as one long and breathless word. I love hearing how other moms battle that same hygiene demon.
And I was just thinking I didn’t say “yes” enough…but this totally sounds like my day! I’m nicer than I thought!!
.-= Tiffany´s last blog ..I want you so =-.
Yes you can throw things. Let’s put down the hockey sticks though, and we can grab a ball and go outside, or get some socks and throw them at the wall.
Yes you can squeeze your brother. Let’s do it gently around his tummy instead of around his neck like that.
Yes I can make you a dinosaur out of play-doh. Yes those are the claws, yes those are the legs, yes those are the teeth, YES THAT’S EXACTLY THE WAY THEY LOOKED.
It just might work, yes? (Just joking, kind of. I do try to say yes a lot.)
.-= macondo mama´s last blog ..Dear Monster: Your birth story =-.
YES. This is what it means to be a mom. Phrasing, baby. It’s all about tone of voice and phrasing. Great!s
Clever.
“Yes it’s my turn to read tonight.”
That is my deal every other night with First Born, too. And as of a few months ago, he’s quite delighted when it is, in fact, my turn. Used to be Daddy was his fave.
Last night, unfortunately, it was more along the lines of “Yes, I will hold the bucket for you as you puke yet again.” Stomach virus has hit.
.-= Liz´s last blog ..Lust, uninvited =-.
:( Poor kiddo. And poor mama.
I just love this post – it is so very hard to figure through a conversation with a toddler so that the operative word is yes and not no. I have to work harder on this one, I know.
.-= Aging Mommy´s last blog ..Recollections Of A Mini-Adventure =-.
Jen, this is a heart-warming list of Yes. You’ve just inspired me to do an experiment. Today. I will try to make it a day of yes. I’ve been working on saying Yes more often. It’s so much better to hear and to say than No.
I started my Yes journey on vacation a few years ago. I decided before the week started that I would say Yes as much as I could. It was wonderful. Of course, on vacation it’s easy. But it does make the days more positive if you can begin sentences with YES.
You did almost the exact opposite of what I did today.
.-= C @ Kid Things´s last blog ..No No No Yes =-.
Oh, I’ve had those NO days, too. And then I wake up the next morning with the worst guilt hangover in the world.
It’s the YES that makes parenthood a lot easier as the NO can be so difficult sometimes. But necessary. Yet, a day filled with yes is a glorious day, as evident in your post.
Yes, indeed!
.-= Justine´s last blog ..It’s not me, it’s you – or is it? =-.
I love your day of “yes”! It sounds full and fun. Everything “yes” should be.
You are supermom. That sounds like the best day ever. I’m 28 and would like nothing more than permission to jump on my neighbor’s trampoline. I wish my neighbors had a trampoline.
.-= Rachel @ MWF Seeking BFF´s last blog ..I’ve Bin Thinking About Your Ignerince =-.
Come on by. Our neighbors are great. And the kids love it when a grown up jumps with them!
I’m wiped after reading this Jen! I wish I said yes so much… I feel like no comes out of my mouth more often. I should tape this to my wall so that I remember how wonderful YES can be too! Yes is much happier. Even if more tiring.
Try it for one day. (Choose a day where it’s possible.) It’s hard, but it gets easier. And it’s fun, too.
Love it. Like I pointed out in my Yes post, how many of the best surprises start with the word ‘yes’?
I spend so much of my life saying “no”. Which is a sometimes necessary part of being a mom. But it feels so much better when I can say “yes”.
It is all about phrasing. I’ve tried really hard to do that but it’s hard.
And sometimes after the disaster that was bathe and bedtime last night, the answer is a definite
“No, you can not watch TV.”
“No you can not have any treats at all…..but yes, we can try again tomorrow.”
My link below is still to my Lust Blog. My Yes blog is: http://wp.me/pz2FT-3j
.-= Jane Swinglehurst´s last blog ..Baby Lust =-.
Powerful = Yes, we can try again tomorrow. (For the kids and for you!)
I love days like that, it can’t happen all the time because they ask for candy, popsicles and ice cream all day, but every once in a while I try to make sure I say “Yes” when I would normally say “no”.
.-= Cranky Sarah´s last blog ..Almost there =-.
First borns hear “no” way too often. I like this day of yes idea!
.-= Amber´s last blog ..A Simple Walk =-.
I wish I said YES more often, to my boys. I do…but I wish it were more often. Just saying :)
.-= Heather of the EO´s last blog ..The girl who lived on the lake =-.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I find myself saying these things all the time. It is usually like “Yes, you can be Spiderman and rescue me, but no you can’t fly off the couch.”
Yes. I love to say yes. I stopped saying no when my 2 year old started echoing me and I realized how annoying it sounded. So now my “no’s” sound like, “This is how it is” or “What do you think?” or “Yes, but” and then I give them an unfathomable task that they have to do first. Like Yes we can go outside, but only if you clean your bedroom first. Which they can never do by themselves being that they are only 2 & 4.
Plus da hubbster says no enough for the 2 of us.
Every day, my kid comes home from school and asks “Can we go out for dinner? And then can we stop somewhere and get me a toy? Can we? Can we? PLEASE?” Seriously, every single day.
I might just blow his mind today and say yes (though it gives me hives how materialistic his wishes are). He’ll need it after his first day of EOGs. Poor little third grader.
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Good things =-.
One of these days, I’m just going to surprise them and say no. No, teeth brushing! No peeing before bed! No veggies! No homework! I wonder what they’d do.
P.S. Congrats on your Parents Picks pre-nomination! Go, you guys!! http://www.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks/best-parenting-blogs
.-= Scary Mommy´s last blog ..Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes… =-.
I found with my girls that it was easier for me to say yes to very specifically worded requests. My oldest is a champ at finding the loopholes. She’s headed off to college in the fall. Look out world!
.-= Andrea @ Shameless Agitator´s last blog ..Trajectory =-.
So simply put, but still I relate so well. All those “yesses” all day long are tiring, but definitely worth it :)
.-= Jenn M´s last blog ..Oh, Yes- You’ve Discovered My Nemesis =-.
Yay for Yes Day!!
Lovely post, as always.
.-= Corinne´s last blog ..{Five for Ten} Courage =-.
I see so many articles in women’s magazines telling us how, as busy multi-tasking superwomen, we should learn to say ‘no’ more. I find it so much more positive to shine a spotlight on all the great ways we can say ‘yes’. Great topic! I enjoyed imagining all the (very short) conversations you have with your kids in a day!!
XO
Lenore
Oops, here’s my link…
Lenore’s last blog:
http://latherwriterepeat.blogspot.com/2010/05/say-yes-to-you.html
.-= Lenore @ Lather. Write. Repeat´s last blog ..Into the Deep =-.
Yikes! I’m a terrible comment poster! Not sure what happened but the auto-link is to yesterday’s topic, so sorry!
XO
Lenore
So sweet! Precious, really.
I’m just beginning to understand this yes thing – motherhood as the dishing out of yeses and nos. Being the one who gets to decide. It’s scary but also exhilarating, because yes is so very powerful. I want to be a mother who says yes more than she says no, but at the same time, a mother who knows when to say no. Oh, lovely, another impossible quest for balance… :)
In a few years your post will read:
Yes you have to be home my midnight.
Yes you have to kiss me goodnight each and every night
Yes you can have the keys to the car
Say yes turns everything upside down.
I bet your first born was on cloud nine! Don’t we all wish we got “yes” as a response a little more often.
.-= Anonymous Mommy´s last blog ..Vampires Explained or The Stank That Accompanies Us Upon Waking =-.
yes days are so much better than no days.
and when i think about it, alot of my nos could be yeses.
you want to go to WalMart in your storm trooper costume.
Why not?
…..and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of that book.
.-= michelle´s last blog ..Of course I did. =-.
The other night my son wore his Tarzan costume to bed. That was an easy yes, but I do admit that my first instinct was to say no. I saw his face crumpling and quickly said SURE. Who cares what they wear to BED?! I have bigger battles to deal with.
I love this idea of a YES day! Around here, we do a Kids in Charge Day, but that’s only once a year ( all I can stand)!
.-= Amy @ never-true tales´s last blog ..Sunday morning is for lovers…if by lovers, you mean oatmeal, Sponge Bob, rashes, emails, and church =-.
Yes. I made B the “boss” of his b’day party this past weekend. He organized all of the games (limbo and tag). He loved loved loved it. And so did I. I can make killer cupcakes. But party planner I am NOT! No NO NO.
I love the six minutes! Why six? My kids do that too. Yes, darling people, yes and yes and yes.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..remember when =-.
Yeah. I dread the day when B can actually tell time. I’m hopeful that most nights he still will fall asleep before six minutes is up!
Mommy Juice around these parts is otherwise known as a drink that has Grownups in it…
Thanks again for doing the Five for Ten. It’s been fabulous and I’m almost sad to see it end! I see almost because I’ve spent WAY too much time reading all the amazing posts and agonizing over my own!
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..Yes is the hardest word =-.
Thanks, Cheryl. I know what you mean. I think I’m going to have to take an extended “time out” from my computer once I finally get caught up!
I, too, can totally relate to the day you had. Can’t completely get away from saying no “Mom? Can I jump off the roof of the house? Can I have candy right before dinner? Can I watch an R rated movie? (from the 10yo) but it would be nice to say yes more often. I know – I’ll practice! :-)
.-= Cindy´s last blog ..Magical Combination =-.
I have been having way too many “No,” “Not right now,” and “In a minute” days lately. Thanks for this reminder to re-embrace “Yes.”
.-= Kristen @ Motherese´s last blog ..Yes. (And Life After It.) =-.
I love reading all of the posts about having a YES day. I need to do this more often. Like make it a weekly thing.
.-= Allison @ Alli ‘n Son´s last blog ..Permission Granted =-.
YES! I love this post! It is those little itty bitty things that really count and that we should notice and say yes instead of always saying NO!
Cool!
.-= Shawna Cevraini´s last blog ..Surrender =-.
Jen, you’re such a great mom. Oh my gosh, I feel like I can just *see* you and your kids going about your day, just reading these sentences. I love that you say Yes so much. I always thought parenting was about saying No, but you make it beautifully positive. (Yes, you have to brush your teeth. Ha!)
.-= Eva @ Eva Evolving´s last blog ..My favorite cravings =-.
Oh don’t be fooled. I have my no days, too! But I think yes IS important. Because how can I get mad at my kids for always saying no if that’s all they ever hear from me?!
I have a friend who has a Yes! Day once each quarter. I find that extremely brave (the makings of a post on courage, if you ask me). But I also find it intriguing. Now that my oldest is old enough to understand what a treat a day of Yes! is, we are going to start a Yes! Day tradition of our own.
Great post!
Reading that post, it occured to me that as moms, we may say ‘yes’ more times in a day than we hear “mommy?”
Yes to saying yes!
But I have to be the contrarian: isn’t it sometimes also great to say NO?
Our kids tell us “NO” all the time:
“No I don’t want to go to bed,” “No I’m not wearing that dress!” “No, I will not eat my peas!”
You see, sometimes, we can say “No” too. In the parent-child relationship, the balance of power is important.
Curious about how you can say YES to “Mom Time” and “Daddy Juice?” You can read more on our blog entry: http://parentologyblog.com/2010/04/part-1-know-no-power/
When the dust of Five for Ten settles, will you also say Yes to sharing your recipe for cinnamon chip muffins? I’m drooling over here.
.-= Gale @ Ten Dollar Thoughts´s last blog ..New York State of Mind =-.
Why is it that NO is usually the first thing out of my mouth? Your post reminds me of all the YESes that hide behind those NOs. I can’t help but think my spirit would lift just by bringing those to the front of my lips. Yes to Yes!
Diana’s last blog ..Menage a trois
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