Parents have to say "no" a lot. My house can feel quite negative at times, when I have to tell Luke, "no climbing on the fireplace." "Stop feeding the dog your lunch." "No, Woody can't take a bath with you." I am making an effort to say yes to every request possible. This has made for some interesting compromises. This morning I ended up snuggling with Luke, his child size Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls, 2 Binky's, his cup and a DVD of the Wiggles, and a pillow pet.
Before my knee jerk reaction of telling Luke "no" I am going to assess the situation. Is it dangerous? (often times it is) Is it unhealthy? (pizza for breakfast?) Is it just silly? (Buzz and Woody coming into the grocery store with us) Although a more appropriate name for my child might have been "Danger", most of his requests are just silly. He likes his milk warm, and there really is no reason for me to say "no" to that. Of course, I don't want to raise a spoiled child, and there is no way I could possibly comply with every request he has to have his binky and watch TV. But I do want to raise a child who is secure and happy. If warming his milk and reading him five (yes, seriously, 5, every night) books before bed makes him a happy child, than my job is pretty easy.
He has taken to saying "do that again" every time he enjoys something and I have had the pleasure of spending a significant part of my Saturday tickling his tummy and listening to him laugh. This also resulted in me kissing his ear last night, but I got a good little giggle out of it. Of course, there are great joys that come with saying "yes" as much as possible, like the time he said "Daddy do it" when I was about to change his dirty diaper. As my sweet little boy grows up, I am sure I will have to say "no" more often, but for now we will make some pretty silly memories.
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