Yes.

As I was perusing Pinterest, I came across this quote that I love.

"Whenever possible say yes, they are only kids once!" -Marjorie Hinckley

Now, ever since I have been married to Ryan, he has taught me to be a skeptic.  Did Sister Hinckley really say this quote? Was she quoting someone else when she said this? I tried to research the source, but couldn't find it. Regardless of who said it, I still think it's good advice.

Jackson can't even talk yet, but I still feel like I say no a lot. A lot of the times it's for his safety, like when he tries to stick his finger in outlets or when he finds a fork and carries it around precariously close to his eyeball. In these situations, a good parent should say no. But other times I feel like I say no when I don't have to--perhaps out of laziness on my part, feeling like I'm too busy, or other various reasons.

For instance, a couple weeks ago, I was doing a project and needed an empy 2-liter bottle. We emptied the soda from the bottle into a tupperware and put it in the fridge for Ryan to drink later (just so you know, this does not work. The soda went flat in about 2 seconds. I might be exaggerating, but it went flat really fast. Oopsies!) I propped Jackson up on the counter by the sink, and we rinsed out the bottle and played with it for a couple of minutes. I stopped play time because I was eager to get started on my project. However, when I went to take Jackson down, he started crying and saying, "Dis! Dis!" frantically pointing at the empty bottle.

I thought back on the quote and decided, what the heck! How often do we have an empty 2 liter bottle? And how much longer is my precious little boy going to think things like soda bottles are the greatest thing in the world? He is only going to be little for a short time.

I took off his clothes, put him in Mom and Dad's bath (which is way more luxurious than his), and let him play and play with the empty bottle and running water. The whole time he had a huge grin on his face. I sat there for almost an hour watching him splash around, showing off for me. He loved that he had my full attention. He had so much fun, and I'm glad I took that short amount of time out of my day to play with him instead of saying "no" and missing out on this sweet moment.

Before Ryan and I had Jackson, I used to tease Ryan and say he was going to be the softie out of the two of us and that I was going to have to be the disciplinarian. Jokes on me, because it is the opposite. I know I need to learn how to say "no" to my children, but I also need to remember that is equally as important to be able to say "yes" as well.