Our kids are listening. 

Research tells us that we parents are our children’s most important teachers. We know this, but sometimes with all the media clutter and the busy pace of our lives, we underestimate how much our children listen to what we say and what we do. Say Yes to No conversations are reminding us.  Here’s a Say Yes to No family story:

Six-year-old Isaac was playing with his family’s two dogs one night last week. They were having a great time, going back and forth with a chew toy playing tug of war. Suddenly one of the dogs took the toy and ran away with it. Game over. Charlie, the dog that was left, sat down and gave a dumbfounded look to Isaac.

 “Well, Charlie,” Isaac says, “like my dad says: ‘You don’t always get what you want.’”

Isaac at age six is learning a big lesson about resiliency, one of the benefits of Say Yes to No. Resilient children will bounce back and cope with bumps in the road. They won’t be defeated by the curve balls that life throws at all of us. The lessons of No can start small; they should start early, but they will last a lifetime.