Parenting 101: Just Say No To Children

I make many mistakes as a parent, but I have one thing down better than most of my friends: I tell my children “no” all the time. I’m really good at it. It didn’t even occur to me that this was something I was doing, much less doing well, until one of my friends asked for advice on how to say no to her children.

On the one hand, it is easy to say “no” to children. It’s a simple word. On the other hand, a parent has to overcome a few obstacles. It’s our natural inclination to want to make our children happy all the time. And telling them “no” won’t make them happy. I mean, it might make them happier adults to not have had their every childhood whim catered to, but the short-term can be hellish. And because we’re tired all the time (or is that just me?), we don’t want to deal with those unhappy feelings. Saying “no” also means that we’re making a decision. And while making decisions may not be hard, piling up decision after decision during the day can be dreadful. There are other issues, too. We don’t want to disappoint our children, or have conflict. And saying “no” means that we’re the bad guy when really we just want to be our child’s big buddy.  MORE...Shine at Yahoo