A couple of weeks ago I offered the kids some chocolate milk with dinner and of course they all accepted.
I poured a fair amount of Hershey’s Syrup into each of our cups then set the container down next to the milk jug.
My six year old son suddenly said to me, ‘How cool would it be if we poured the chocolate syrup in the milk to make A LOT of chocolate milk!?’
When I didn’t answer right away my two daughters stared at me wondering what the answer would be.
Instead of saying no, I said yes.
Well… I didn’t say yes…I did yes.
My oldest, and most logical daughter looked on, and seemed shocked that I was about to do the unthinkable; I was getting ready to pour chocolate syrup into our gallon of milk.
She couldn’t believe that her sensible mother would do such a thing. She was nearly breathless as she asked, ‘you wouuuuuldn’t!?!?!’
My look said it all: (‘I WOULD!’ , with a wink ;)
The way I looked at it, there were two other gallons of milk in the fridge and this one was a little less than half-full. I wasn’t going to ruin anything by doing it and we would have a lot of instant chocolate milk to go around!
I was about to shock my children by taking their cool-kid-idea and making it a reality! I decided to do it because I knew it would surprise them and make them laugh!
After I poured a ton of chocolate into the jug, I put the lid back on and shook it.
My daughter hummed some sort of fun song as I danced around the dining room.
This type of stuff is the silly kind you read about in kids books but.. .it’s stuff that should be happening in real life.
Why?
Because life shouldn’t be boring! It should be FUN! Without enjoyment, why bother?
For years I grew up hearing, ‘no, not now, you’re too little, too young, I’m too busy, etc., etc., etc.,’ and I eventually matured into an adult who didn’t know how to have a good time. I became too serious and couldn’t laugh at myself, and I didn’t play.
I don’t know exactly what changed but since my divorce six years ago, I feel that life is just too darn short…
I know this though, THIS IS ME; the real me, and I love to have fun!
I often wonder if my co-workers think I’m off my rocker; they don’t always get me, but when I make them laugh, it makes my day even brighter!
I’m no stand-up comedian and I’m not going to quit my day-job, I just like to see the humor in life and I love to make people smile.
My kids are well behaved (most of the time) and they respect their elders, get good grades, eat healthy and go to bed when they are supposed to (mostly). So, why shouldn’t we have some fun?! Why shouldn’t they hear yes?!
What’s the harm in pouring a little chocolate syrup (okay.. a LOT of chocolate syrup) into the rest of a jug of milk?
We need to say yes to our children sometimes.
Kids are people too.
I know we’re the grownups, and we are the ones who set all the rules, but it doesn’t mean we always have to be the boss.
We need to give kids positive encouragement about being an individual and being a part of the team….
Accept their input occasionally; don’t always put down their ideas because we don’t see the logic in them.
Here is another example of fun we used to have:
My kids used to dress up as police officers. They had these handcuffs they used. And the deal was, if they could catch me and cuff me, they could have a treat before dinner, and I couldn’t say no.
They played this game every once in a while and we had a blast with it! They never abused it. And there was no harm done…..
Just some FUN!!!
So, say yes to going out for dinner!
Say yes to bike riding, roller skating and splashing in the pool.
Say yes to reading them a story, playing a game or coloring with them!
Say yes to letting them lick the frosting off the spoon or a cookie before dinner.
Say YES to pouring chocolate syrup in the milk jug!
Say yes, yes, yes, yes, as much as you can to your kids ideas and inventiveness.
Teach them that just because they’re kids doesn’t mean they don’t have cool ideas.
Call me crazy, but I’ve let my kids mix foods at dinner, make dinner (even when they cannot cook a balanced meal), help paint walls even though they could not speak clearly, use my 35 mm camera which was bigger than them at the time, wash my car and operate washers and dryers, all before they needed to; just because they asked.
Kids learn by doing, And they love it when you let them.
Say Yes! Because when you say YES to their ideas, you say YES to them!
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| Cuff Mommy 4 Candy!!! |
Truly,
Amber