As an actor, I have always loved improv. Improvisational acting sharpens your skills in so many ways: it helps you focus on the here and now, become a better listener, be supportive of your partners, and most importantly to say YES!
A sure fired way to kill a scene is to say NO to whatever is offered. NO makes a scene come to a screeching halt, whereas saying YES can take it to unexpectedly wonderful places.
Improv skills come in handy on and off the stage. You become adept at making the best out of whatever situation is presented. As a parent, I find that saying NO to my kids is not always the answer.
Yes, it’s true that sometimes NO is unavoidable (i.e. safety/health first), but sometimes as parents we need to say YES!
This morning I woke up and planned a Memorial Day picnic for myself and the girls. It’s a holiday and although Unknown Papi has to work, I still wanted to do something “special” with the girls.
Turns out that Put Pie, my 3 year old, has developed a severe aversion to the wind and wanted nothing to do with being outside.
Put Pie: Mama, we stay home. Peeze?
Unknown Mami: But Mi’ja, I thought we would go have a picnic.
P.P.: (with tears in her eyes) Mama, the wind. Me no like the wind. Me want to stay home.
I could tell we were entering full blown crying mode and I will be honest, my first instinct was to continue on with my plan because gosh darn it we were going to have fun. I was going to make this Memorial Day memorable. Instead we compromised. We quickly walked to a nearby store, dodging the dreaded wind the whole time, gathered supplies, and came back to have an indoor picnic.
In the end, the girls had a blast…
and so did I. We spent time together, had fun, and used our imagination.
The best part was when Put Pie looked at me and said, “We having so much fun, I want to do this every day.”
I said YES to Put Pie and still got exactly what I wanted, a memorable Memorial Day.
My takeaway: Say NO when you have to because sometimes you have to, but consider the possibilities of YES!!!
I have always LOVED those children’s picnic basket sets! What a GREAT compromise, and looks like a fun picnic for all.
Great message! So glad your indoor picnic went well!
I love, Love, LOVE this! I have gotten a bit caught up in “No” lately and I am so glad to be reminded of yes!
🙂
Traci
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. I blame my kids for reminding me.
What a great post. so true!
Stumbled across this post and just had to comment. Yes, so often parents get into the habit of saying “no” to their children. We would save ourselves a lot of aggravation if we ask “Do I have to say no?”
That was good improv thinking. Wind can be fickle – good and bad.
Win win situation! I think it’s important for kids to hear NO in there life…it can’t always be Yes but you have to pick your battles! I’m happy you all had a great time.
This looks like such a fun time!!!
Is that a Coke in the bottle? My favorite. Absolute favorite treat!! Yummy. We do picnics in the house, under the tables, in the basement, and various other places inside. They are great fun 🙂
That is a Coke in the bottle. It is my guilty sometimes treat.
I was just thinking about you this morning. Hope all is well.
I think you should tell another thrift store story with your mom and a wheelchair girl who smells like chit…….~
STILL makes me laugh!
Don’t kids have the best ideas??
Always good to be flexible with the kids. Teaches them to be flexible as well and like you said, they have happy memories.
yes!
I loved that you said YES. 🙂 We do that a lot – and enjoy the creativity that rushes in from happy minds. 😀 I still have a garden set Vidur used to play with.
Awesome parenting! Looks like a fun picnic.