Just to shock 'em.

My children ask to do a lot of things.

And I mostly say no.

Why?

Because some are ridiculous

No, you cannot climb up on the roof.
No, you cannot ride the friends' great dane.
No, you cannot see if you can jump from the piano to the living room loveseat.
No, darling, I'm sorry, but a mural is not quite what I want on the hallway wall.

Some are not ridiculous requests, but are just not good for them.

No, you cannot have a marshmallow for midmorning snack.
No, Eason, you my not have your own beer.
No, ada brooks, you cannot be in charge of slicing the potatoes.
No eason, you cannot pour the boiling water out of the teapot into my tea mug.

But, the ones I really hate to say no to are the ones that are not bad requests, but they are just bad timing.

No, I do not have time to make from-scratch hot chocolate right now - gotta get supper ready. (And that's one of your father's six dishes he can make, so let's let him do it soon).
No, we cannot go on a bike ride right now - Collins is asleep.
No, today is not a good day for the park - there are 14 unfolded loads of laundry.
No, you cannot use yellow duck tape to make a hop scotch court in the hallway, because well, it's pretty much never a good time for that.
No, I cannot read you that (fourth) book right now - I have to do my lesson plans for tomorrow.

(Yes, that last one will just break your heart in to a billion pieces. I mean, most of the time, let's be honest, I just give in on that one. Because I'd rather stay up late doing lesson plans than ever turn down a reading of a book to my child. Ever.)

The kids are used to being told no. It's part of life, and it's good that they've learned that early.

But, I also really like that they are spunky enough that they haven't quit asking. They still ask for candy in the grocery store check out, even though I'm pretty sure I've never said yes. Ever.

This morning, during a spelling lesson, Ada Brooks said, "hey mama - can we make some jello?" And Eason said, 'yeah -that's a good idea - let's make jello."

And I said yes.

Sometimes you have to say yes, just to shock 'em.

Ada Brooks said, "Really? Seriously?" (Maybe I'm more boring than I thought....)

And so, curmudgeon, practical me just took 20 minutes out of my action-packed, homeschooling, pot-roast-making, blogpost-writing, Thanksgiving-menu-planning Monday morning to make not one, but two batches of jello.

Lime and Black Cherry.

The last time I said yes to something like this was when we were in the grocery store six months ago and they asked to buy the packets of jello.

Saying no is normal.

Saying yes is fun.

(And please note the obvious. If you say yes all of the time, then it becomes no fun.)

Splash them in there every so often, just to keep 'em guessing.


And, you know, to thrill their little souls. Because that is the best privilege of being a parent. Thrilling their souls.