I AM .. a NO Mom

I think I have blogged about this before, but am unsure.

I am a no mom. Born and raised by a no mom (whose mom was also prolly a no mom).

You know the kind of mom, who says no to most anything and everything her kids ask her to do. And WHHHHHHYYYYYY does she say no? Well I cannot speak for other moms, but I know why I say no more often than not. More than likely it is because I am lazy. I don't want to have to clean up a big mess. Or I worry about something being being broken (when honestly, broken things are the BEST to let the kids tinker with and learn from - I know many a friend who has had her broken things start miraculously working after her kids tinkered with it).

So today I worked on being a yes mom. I had to remind myself quite a bit. But I did it. I said YES to more things than I said no to. In fact, I think I only said no twice, and then it was a wait until after Mommy gets back from the doctor thing because I had to leave. :D

And I wish I had taken a picture of the SHOCK on my daughters face when she asked me if *I* could do something and I told her *she* could do it. That brought her SO MUCH JOY!

Imagine all the joy I have robbed my kids of because I have been a no mom for too long. :(

And it is not that difficult to say yes! And it is not that time consuming. Usually they are more than HAPPY to clean up after themselves, especially when they are given the blessing of doing what they asked. The stuff they are asking to do requires so LITTLE of me (as in I do not have to make phone calls and arrangements for things to happen nor do I have to drive them from here to there and everywhere).

And the joy ... did I mention the JOY!! The squeals of delight as MM helped with dinner. When did I stop letting them HELP me so much? The shock on AA's face when I let her plant the seeds for lavender and decide where to place the pot for them to grow. The smiles when I told the girls they COULD open up and play with whatever was in those free bags I got from the homeschool fair. The laughter when they all ran outside to play after Mommy said YES.

I like this being a yes mom. I was a yes mom today. And it felt GOOD! Today (even with the illness and JJ backsliding with his allergies and such) was a GREAT day!

I pray that the Lord will help me to be a yes mom more more often than a no mom. And I pray that my children will become yes moms (and a dad) when they grow up.