8 Times We Can't Say "No" to Kids

As parents, we spend an awful lot of our time saying "no" to our kids.

"Can I have candy for breakfast?" "No."
"Can I get my nose pierced?" "No."
"Can I have a pony?" "No."
"Can I drive the Ferrari to school?" "No."
"Can I have $200?" "No."
"Can I give my brother a haircut?" "No."
"Can I put baby in a corner?" "No." (Nobody puts baby in a corner.)

You get the idea. Sometimes we get so conditioned to telling our kids "no" that we find ourselves shocked when they ask us something that we can actually say "yes" to. It doesn't happen often, but there are occasionally times when it's hard to say "no" to your kids.

Here are a few of those times:

1. "Can I have some more broccoli?" Sometimes it's hard to get the kids to eat their vegetables.They'd rather eat candy or chicken nuggets or cookies or fries or macaroni and cheese or candy or more candy. So, when they ask if they can have more of a vegetable, it's almost impossible to say "no." In fact, our girls love broccoli so much that we've actually said things like, "No more broccoli until you finish your chicken nuggets." But whenever we say something like that, it just feels wrong. More veggies? Sure!

2. "Can you read me a book?" We want smart kids. We want to instill in them a love of reading at a young age. So, when they ask if you can read them a book, it's hard to say "no." Even if you've read that very book to them 14 times in a row! Getting the little ones to love books is a good thing. (Of course, we might have done this too well. We have some kids who need to be reminded to put the books down and interact with the real world occasionally.)

You can never get them started too early on reading books!

3. "Can I have a bath?" If you have a child who volunteers to get and/or stay clean, by all means encourage that behavior!

4. "Can I please have ____(fill in the blank)___?" When your child is first learning how to talk, and they ask for something saying "please" (or "pwease"), how can you say "no?" You can't.

5. "Can you kiss it better?" Your child is in pain. They have an owie, but just one kiss from you can take away all their pain and make them feel better. Go ahead and pucker up!

6. "I need to go potty!" Every parent has had to clean up a child who has pee-peed or poo-pooed their pants. No parent ever wants to have to do that again. A child who says "I need to go potty" has an enormous amount of power.

7. "I need a hug." Hugs. Cuddles. Nuggles. These are all good things that should not be denied.

8. "Talk on the phone?" This one can go both ways. If you are on the phone with your parents and your child wants to talk to Grammy or PopPop, you let them. Also, if a child has a toy phone and wants you to talk on it, you will do so.

Because there are times when you just can't say "no" to your kids.


Edited from a post originally published on 2/24/2017.