opening to "yes"

As a parent, there are things that I sometimes want to avoid because I don't want to deal with the hassle or the mess. I was laughing with a neighbor recently who was whispering that they don't want to let their son do such and such because he was having a hard time with endings. I admitted there are times I don't brush Avi's teeth at night because he doesn't want to turn off the water... and at that time of night -- when we are all tired -- those otherwise peaceful endings of "bye bye water" or "do you want to kiss your toothbrush and say goodnight" turn into tearful screams of "nooooooooooooooo" and "mooooooooore"... and I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that we are all tired.  (Don't worry, we also brush teeth in the morning, and sometimes before or after nap and often in the bathtub).

Yet, as a parent, I'm also finding that often the hassle or mess is only perceived. This past weekend, Jenn had run out to do some errands when Avi asked to paint. I found that my first thought was, "ugh, let's see what else I could distract him with". But then I put aside my own (perceived) inconvenience and said, "Yes". I got the table cloth turned painting cloth from the laundry room, covered the table, grabbed the paint, paper, and brushes from the drawer and asked Avi to get a bowl from the kitchen. In less then 3 minutes he was at the table with his "orange" paint. We both painted for about 20 minutes before Jenn arrived home from the store. She joined us and we had an impromptu family art session that continued for another 30ish minutes. Clean up took about five minutes and we all had a marvelous go. Avi discovered he could make hand prints by painting his own hands.

So eight minutes of prep and clean-up for almost an hour of art and family time. I'm so thankful that I ignored my first thought and, instead, opened to saying yes!

Here's to more Yeses!