Hello,
My name is Julie,
And I'm really glad you're here joining us for this parent break.
If your eyes are open,
I invite you to close them softly and join me in considering the following.
Many parents I talk to feel like all they do is say no.
It's almost become a habit,
And for many,
The no is just a first answer.
It isn't even very sticky.
It's just like a post-it note which can be peeled away and then turned into a maybe and eventually a yes.
I believe that no is a very important word,
One to be used carefully,
With intention,
And with a fair bit of stickiness to it.
I already have a no meditation,
And I will probably do more of them,
But today,
I invite you to spend time in the energy of yes.
For the few minutes we are here,
Let's explore what it might feel like to say yes more often.
If at the end you want to return to no,
Of course that's always available to you.
If something about yes doesn't feel right for you,
Feel free to just breathe along with us during the meditation and notice your feelings.
Let's take two deep breaths together and move inward.
So inhale,
And release.
Inhale,
And release.
One way to move towards saying yes more often is to start with a maybe in the cases where you know that your no isn't sticky.
Maybe can mean,
Let's explore,
Or give me a few minutes to consider this.
Maybe could mean,
Tell me more.
How does maybe feel as a possibility in your parenting?
Let's go one step further here.
Let's find some other ways to not say a post-it note no.
We could use yes,
Tomorrow,
Or yes,
When.
We could use yes,
And,
Or yes,
How.
I'll take you through some examples.
Yes,
Tomorrow,
Could sound like this,
Yes,
I will put your name on this second piece of pie and you can definitely have it tomorrow when you wake up.
Yes,
When,
Could be,
Yes,
When the toys are put away we can definitely go play with your buddies at the park.
Or if your kids are a little older,
Yes,
When the garbage has been taken out and you clarify exactly what time you'll be home,
You can have the car keys.
Yes,
And,
Sounds like,
Yes,
You can head to the playground and I'm coming too.
I'm going to walk a few steps behind you and watch how well you stop,
Look,
And listen,
And then cross the road safely.
Yes how,
Could sound like,
Yes,
We can go and try that new activity once we work together as a family to consider how we can make it work for all the kids in our family.
Or if your children are older,
Yes,
You can head to that party once we talk through a few scenarios and you convince me how you will make some safe choices if something goes wrong.
Yes sounds nicer on the receiving end.
Yes can give our kids a sense that we believe in their abilities to make good choices and to do hard things.
Saying yes can feel nice,
Even though it may not feel comfortable.
I'll give you a little more time to spend in this energy of saying yes.
Hello again.
I want to remind you that there is always room in parenting for a sticky no.
If your no isn't sticky,
Maybe it's time to say yes.
Let's take one breath together and then we'll move forward into the rest of the day.
We'll inhale and release.
If you're joining me live at Parent Break,
We're going to put eight minutes on the clock for us to do some private journaling.
And if you're joining me on a replay on Insight Timer,
I invite you to do the same.
Thanks for joining me at this Parent Break.
