Tuesday 26 June 2012

yes

Our Tuesdays of late have not really been the family affair they should be. With all the ongoing ailments of the season, each week at least one of us has not been well enough to be sharing our germs in a public pool, or collecting more. Ruby goes for her lesson, she showers, dresses and we're on our way. Library, shops, errands, whatever is next on the list before she puts her dancing shoes on.


Today we stopped off at St Vinnies on the way home in search of some little furniture for Eliot's bedroom makeover {eldest two went into beds at 18 months and he will do the same, which means a little project}. Two minutes in the door and Cole was doing the wee dance. The closest public toilets were a short walk down the road and across the street to the golden arches. The kids have been there once before for dinner, after a long day of driving and fun and no husband to come home to, for hot chips and apple juice. They refer to it as the other fish and chip shop that has thin chips and a playground (our local has fat chips). I'm happy to keep it that way. Urgent business was done and whilst washing hands I thought it was almost lunch time, should we stay and have those hot chips and apple juice again?

I feel like I have been saying no a lot lately. For many reasons. Because it's too hard, I'm too tired, they're too tired, it's my parental responsibility, blah blah blah. At some point last week I told myself to stop saying no. I should say yes more often. Even to the silly stuff, the naughty stuff, the parental responsibility stuff. They didn't ask to stay for lunch, that was some little voice inside my head. I suggested we stay for those thin chips and apple juice and a play on the playground. They jumped for joy and clapped their hands, their little faces lit up. We had our lunch, they played on the playground for five minutes before declaring it too scary (it was four stories high!), so we walked across the road to the proper park playground, where of course all the slides were wet. But they still had a ball. We walked back to St Vinnies (with some little wet bums), found no furniture but left with a pair of pink fluffy high heels for the dress up box and a little red bulldozer. They peered over the counter and paid for their goods, and walked back to the car with a little spring in their step.


In the spirit of saying yes, I broke one of my very important parental rules. No dress ups in public. When asked if she could wear her new heels to dancing this afternoon.. I smiled and said yes. Hubby rolled his eyes and I smiled harder as she clip clopped down the hall and off to class.

Sometimes saying yes to the silly stuff is just what you need.

{Am I just anal or do you have the no dress ups in public rule too?}


6 comments:

  1. i agree with the silly stuff. i get eye rolls weekly :) i love letting kids explore who they are and besides it makes others smile. xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have that same rule. No dress ups out if the house. And my kids know it. I remember them spending the day with the grandparents and after asking then what they got up to, the first response was 'Noah was spiderman at the park!'.

    Not my thing. Guess it goes along with my strong dislike for merchandised clothing. Yukko. I draw the line for that one at PJ's.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No defiantly no dress ups outside the house! Although I think I have broken the rules once or twice to keep the peace :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think I am having the opposite problem in my house - I am trying to say no more often and it does not always work very well.
    It seems like my baby is suddenly a little girl (she is 3 in just over a month) and I have been letting her do and have virtually whatever she wants (as long as it will not hurt her or someone else) because I want her to be happy.
    However, I do allow some dress ups outside the house. I also have items which are dual purpose; e.g. tutu like skirts suitable for wear in public. I figure a pair of fairy wings or some silly jewellery is not going to hurt someone. I would not generally agree to dress up shoes though - mainly for the complaints about sore or hurt feet.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh how l loved this post. I've been thinking about the all the 'no's' of late and thinking about which ones I can let slide, and when. Your so right some things need to slide sometimes!

    I can't wait to see what you pick up for little E's room

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh Tahnee I hope everyone is all well for you this weekend so you get a chance to go together. I do love this post I am so guilty of saying no, being the responsible parent, it can get a bit boring for everyone some days. Tomorrow I'm going to say yes to something I wouldn't normally say yes to, sounds fun:) I can see your little girl walking in those high heels, very cute. x

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you, thankyou so much for taking the time to leave a comment x

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...