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“Mum, please, no rusks, we want chocolate Prince!” “
This life-size test of “Yes Day” with my two children (3 year old boy and 8 year old girl) was ordered from me in January. And I managed to do it… in April. Do not laugh. Besides, it was my idea.
To be successful, I had to have time with my kids. And find a day without a meeting of friends or family, to avoid horrified looks at so much “laxity”.
That Saturday, 8:00 am, I was ready to face this day when everything would be allowed. The kids weren’t aware of it, of course, we shouldn’t cover things up, worse, give them the idea of becoming horribly capricious and unreasonable.
Faced with the shortage of sandwich bread for breakfast, their first request, almost in unison, was: “Mum, please, no rusks, we want chocolate Prince!” “. Hands clenched on my coffee cup, I replied heroically (pushing back the image of weight curves flying off the health record): “Of course the children!” ”
“I broke down at 9 am When the little one began to crawl on the kitchen floor. “
Soaking cakes in milk warmed the mood. Then, once the dumbfounded father left the house for his guitar lesson, the children, saturated with saturated fat, snorted in the living room while I cleared the table. Drawings, Lego, knick-knacks… Until the eldest child makes a new request: “Can we put on some music?” “
Yes, yes, yes of course! But what wisdom! At that moment, I understood some of the virtues of this test: the under 12s are not potential monsters. They have joyful desires that it would be wrong to curb in order to serve them a well-established program of activities (which in addition I had not established).
30 minutes later, the two were still rapping in time on the mat, tangling in the wires of a plastic microphone, standing on mini-chairs, spinning and competing in surrealist choreography. I still had the presence of mind to tell them while dancing with them: “Watch out, the corner of the fireplace, watch out the curtain will come down, watch out the house will collapse!” (The “attention” “slowly”, “shhh” work very well for a Yes Day).
I cracked at 9 am When the little one began to crawl at full length on the kitchen floor (not cleaned because I had done a “No Day” of cleaning the day before), barefoot (I had said yes to remove the slippers).
My “No” resounded against the walls of the house, a terrible admission of weakness but so liberating.
“Yes, dress as you want my chick”
I immediately began to recover. And we went upstairs to get ready, our heads full of yeses.
“Yes, brush your teeth while climbing the toilet, it’s very funny my darling”.
“Yes, dress as you want my chick, the undershirt is too small, it keeps you warm”.
The situation became more comfortable when I finally made the rules. Why not have thought of it earlier, I ask you!
“Now the two of you play quietly while I shower.” Miracle. I even had time to put on mascara.
The rest of the day was mixed. The little one always seeking to test the limits of his body and loathing anything that closely or remotely resembles a food from the Earth, I bitterly regretted not having laid down a clear framework for safety and food. . So I had to give in to: “I don’t want mash with my egg” at lunchtime, and multiply the “Attention!” »During pirate attacks right in front of the railing of the stairs.
With the eldest daughter I had taken on for an afternoon dance rehearsal, nothing made me regret “Yes Day”. She accompanied me calmly and was allowed to do whatever she wanted in the cultural center, including exploring the hallways, the nooks and crannies, taking out all the toys she had loaded, dancing at the back of the room. She didn’t. And watched the sitting quietly sitting on a bench. The kids are amazing.
“In conclusion, I would therefore say a big yes to Yes Day”!
During that time, my little troublemaker was knocking out (among other things) a piñata in a birthday party. When it came time to pick him up with his sister, I had to accept that they both ate a huge muffin on the way home at 18:00 p.m. in the rain, their hands full of bacteria of all kinds.
The day ended with two cartoons (their number having been clearly specified before lighting), two bubble baths (“Mom, the foam is TOO good), a pasta meal with zucchini hidden inside. No claim for chocolate cream for dessert. The cravings for sugar having been more than satisfied all day.
The last “yes” in my daughter’s room allowed her to read a little more in her bed and “turn off on her own”. No more light 10 minutes later. And his brother, in his next room, was also dozing off, reassured by his “open door” to which we decidedly give in too infrequently.
Sunday, let’s face it, was a day of jubilation. I had regained my strength, with “no” in the money. But, to my surprise, I got out a lot less than usual.
In conclusion, I would therefore say a big yes to “Yes Day”.
Yes to this test, which allows you to understand that kids have crazy ideas that we quickly accept if we want to enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, and the magic of their joie de vivre. But also to understand that it is forbidden to prohibit anything that has not been previously prohibited. Especially to a child still in the process of exploring authority. No but !