Some time last year, I realized that when my kids asked me for permission to do something, my first response was to say "no." This was for many reasons--I wanted them to be safe, I didn't want to be bothered at the time, I didn't want to spend the money, etc. (Honestly, it was probably the middle reason more times than not.) There are all kinds of good reasons to say "no" to lots of ideas kids come up with. Adults do have responsibilities to care for that keep them busy, but when I realized that was my automatic response most of the time, I knew I had a problem.
I was at a PTO thing at our elementary school recently and was talking to another dad who shared that he is the exact same way, so it got me thinking more about it. Hearing "no" all the time can be defeating to a child, so once I realized this about myself, I tried to change. When my kids at home or the kids at church come up with an idea to try, I try to make my first response "yes" and think through how we could do it. How about you? Would you like to just say "yes" to your kids more often?
