I have been trying out a new parenting tactic lately. I call it Permissive Parenting, or being a Yes Mom. Did you ever notice as a kid that your mom always said no to almost everything you wanted? At least it seemed like it. Well, my recent theory is that we get told no all the time in life. It sucks. My kids will have plenty of time to hear no, so I'm learning to say yes to pretty much all their requests (within reason) and it's been not only fun, but hilarious!
"Can I have a cookie before dinner?" Yes. "Can we paint today?" Yes. "Can I stay up and watch the end of this movie?" Yes. "Can I wear flip flops to school?" Yes! I am allowing all of this. I'm letting them choose things for themselves, yet I am explaining possible consequences of their actions. For example, "You can stay up and watch the movie, but you have to get up early and you will be awfully tired if you don't get enough rest." Sure enough....within ten to fifteen minutes the kid is heading to bed. Flip flops in November? Sure, but only if you wear socks. Now THAT is pretty fun to watch.
I've given out more treats, cleaned more messes, and had a more rough time in mornings than usual this week, sure, but I've also read more books at bedtime, wrestled and chased them more, played more board games, broken up less fights, and listened and laughed more than I normally get to. I'm loving this experiment so far and have no plans to discontinue it. Kids come up with great ideas and instead of thinking that perhaps your time will be too strained for their proposed activity, it's pretty easy to shuffle things around to accommodate it. I say try it, what do you have to lose?
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