no means not ask again

I always thought parents liked saying, "no." Not so much that it gave them a power trip or they received enjoyment from them, more that it was the easy thing to do. If a child asked for something and they said, "no" then they didn't have to do or buy it. It was clearly the path of least resistance.

When I was a teenager, I'm sure in moments of teenage angst, I thought my parents derived pleasure in grounding me or giving be an absurdly early curfew. Now that I have to say "no," a lot, I understand this is not the case. Saying "no" is HARD. It is not the easy way out.

If we're shopping and Elie asked for a ridiculously heinous, over priced stuffed animal (the kind only marketed in Asia) it often seems it would be much easier to buy it and have an over population of hot pink, glitter monkeys with eyes the size of a dinner plates, and no money

But I don't want that, for obvious reasons, and I've been saying "no" a lot lately. "No" to the $6 tiny box of chocolate cereal that you will eat in one sitting. "No" you cannot wear diapers all the time (this was to Elie, not Violet, we don't say "no" to her--it would be impossible). "No" we cannot go to UT today. It goes like this:

E: Mom, me give Biolet my fork?
Me: No.
E: Puleeeeeeeease! Why not?
Me: What does "no" mean?
E: (sigh) Not ask again.

Since this ongoing epidemic of "no's" it becomes especially refreshing to say "yes." I look for opportunities to do it when I can. The other day we were walking somewhere and Elie said to me, "Mom, Biolet is so cute. We keep her forever?"

And I said, "Yes!"

"Yes, we can keep her forever...but only if you let me go through your room and throw away all the fossums." (fossums=fossils-- which are any rock she finds in the garden.)

Just kidding. Sort of.

We definitely will keep her forever, but the fossum collecting has got to stop.