"YES Day" Results!!!

Well, "Yes Day" came and went and let me start out this post by saying, I WILL NEVER do that again! Write.It.Down. Hold me to it.

Above, I had the kids read the rules out loud and AGREE to all of the guidelines.

The twins started their morning eating candy!

Then they asked me to eat a kitkat mini and I had to say, "YES"! I definitely was NOT thrilled with eating candy at 9:00 a.m.

"Yes Day" included a trip to Target, dressed the way Lilah felt happiest. Ugh... This outfit is her go to outfit.  She'd wear it daily if she could.  Not sure why.  Socks and slides??  SMH. Unbrushed hair.  Sigh...

It also included: A Venti "Pink Drink".

"Can I put Target stickers on your butt?"  Yes! REALLY. 

Goofing around on the shopping carts, making my trip to Target ANYTHING but fun.  

Oh and where was Tyson? HE was home doing what he wanted to do, which was play playstation for 7 hours straight.

Lilah spent her $15 "Yes Day" allowance on Starbuck's and Elmer's Glue.  

Jax spent $10 of his "Yes Day" allowance on PURE JUNK.

Jax also purchased himself a gift card, to Game Stop, with his own money. I agreed to let him buy himself a $25.00 gift card with ZERO hesitation, but when I got off the phone, that $25.00 turned quickly into $45.00.  YUP, you bet your bottom dollar that I said "NO!" on "Yes Day" and it was not a HAPPY moment.  The guilt trips were happening fast and HARD.  "You are already saying no on Yes Day!"  Dang RIGHT. One of the guidelines was that they could not make any permanent decisions and the last time I checked, spending $45 on FortNite gift cards is a permanent way to go BROKE for a 9 year old.  

Apparently, these are the only photos that I captured. AND I believe by the time I made it home, I had had enough of "Yes Day" and said "Game Over".

WHY?  Because my kids were just too manipulative about it.  I would ask Lilah to push her chair in and she would immediately turn around and say, "Mom, can you push my chair in?" Ty literally missed breakfast and lunch and then had to go to football practice on an empty stomach. Lilah realized at 8:30 p.m. that not only had she NOT eaten one meal, but she also hadn't eaten any snacks with substance either. It was all sugar and that Venti pink drink.  After Cheer Camp, she was DYING and I mean DYING of starvation and her attitude was quickly being affected.  The lack of self-control and inability to make wise choices irked me. The unwillingness to be respectful and still desire to be a servant to their home and their parents was too much for me.  I truly didn't think that this day, which was meant to be fun, was glorifying God in anyway.  

I wish I had thought this through a little better AND IF YOU CHOOSE to try a "yes day", I HIGHLY recommend NOT telling your kids that you are having a yes day and JUST SAY "YES" to things, all day long, that you don't normally say yes to and it will just SHOCK them and really make their day!

My kids are just too old and too smart, hence the reason they either manipulated the entire day or made absurd choices for themselves!  I learned that I am definitely a mom who is addicted to saying "NO"!  I'm NO FUN!  I feel bad that the day didn't go quite as I had hoped and anticipated.  I really was excited for this day and excited to see how it all unfolded.  In the end, I think both myself and my kids realized that it's a good thing they are NOT SOLELY responsible for themselves because their choices would cause them to be sick, fat, lazy, unproductive, broke, starving or worse dead.  LOL!

"YES" Day!!!!

Summer is coming to a QUICK close! Due to the ages of my children and their personal LOVES (fortnite, youtube, and musicallys, and slime), this Summer has been the slowest, most unproductive, and uneventful Summer to date. We have also been a little busy serving my mother and father, who recently moved to Roanoke, so our normal, Summer days took a major detour for a good month or so. No one has complained. I guess I just have mom guilt now that the school year is about to begin. I am thinking about all of the things we could have done or should have done, but didn't.  I am grateful, however, that my children LOVE being in their home and don't have to be whisked away on vacation and entertained constantly. When I stop and think about what we've done... we did plenty: we went to Charlotte, King's Dominion, Myrtle Beach, and Richmond. They had Starbuck's, Salem Ice Cream Parlor, Dairy Queen, and Bahama Sno-Shack.  They went to the pool (both ours and a friends'), the trampoline park, the YMCA, and enjoyed multiple/expensive sports camps, drama camp and cheer camp! Went to birthday parties. Had a sleepover or three.  We ate out A TON! They even were able to enjoy a day at the mall shopping for back-to-school clothes and then Target/Staples for personal school supplies. They were able to sleep in and didn't have to go to daycare. Sounds like a good Summer to me.  

BUT... I wanted to do a little something that would leave a lasting impression.  I feel like I am constantly saying "NO".  Kids don't get that discipline is love.  Guidelines are necessary.  Rules are required.  Motherhood/Fatherhood, PARENTHOOD ain't easy.  YES, I say no mostly out of convenience, because I know our daily agenda and what will fit into it, and for selfish reasons, but I am allowed to.  I've been a kid.  It was done to me and I survived.  My kids will too.  When they are parents, they will do what I am now doing.... "AH... now I guess why my mom ...."  [Fill in the blank]! I am not here to fulfill their every selfish desire.  I am hear to fulfill their needs and an ENTIRE day of fortnite, staying up till 1:00 a.m. every Summer day, eating endless amounts of CRAP, and not expecting them to do chores or allowing them to sleep till noon is NOT being a loving parent.  It's being an unprotective, negligent, lazy, abusive parent. It's teaching my kids how to be nonproductive humans in society.  I am raising the next generation, future adults, and hopefully, most importantly, CHRIST FOLLOWERS.  So saying "YES", all the time, is NOT necessary, practical, or loving.  

BUT TODAY, I will be saying "YES".  I do have (10) Guidelines, mostly for my sanity, but also because I know, allowing my children a day of asking questions that only allow me to say YES, will pose dilemmas, IF I don't set those guidelines. They knew this day was coming and they were already planning out their absurd desires, like pulling an all nighter, thinking they could have a budget of $100 each (guess who that was), or skipping their already planned out obligations to invite a friend to sleep over.  "UH... negative!"  So, guidelines were necessary.  Suggestions are mentioned.  They have the choice to make some major decisions and if they choose unwisely, like eating ONLY junk, they will pay for it.  

So, tell me what you think.  See the guidelines below.  I will also include a link for you to print these same guidelines at home, if you desire to mimic ours.  I plan to make sure I have plenty of coffee available to me.  I have ONE friend who has done this before and she said by the end of the day, you feel like you've been hit by a mack truck, went out partying all night but didn't enjoy it, or feel like you could sell your children to North Korea's leader and never look back.  HAHAHAH.  We shall see what they ask me to say "YES" to.  Stay tuned... 

P.S. I bet today will be the best day of their lives.  #MOMGOALS

 

After reading the guidelines, do you feel like I've put far too many stipulations on the day?  OR do you think I was fair?  There are (3) links below, that you can click on, and print if you wish to use BOLLINGWITH5's guidelines.  Oh and let me preface... these guidelines were created by ME! They work within the dynamics, morals, faith, and personalities of our family, so if you do not like them... make your own!!!! I am curious to see how they change, if you do make up your own. Send them my way! 

Guidelines 1-4
Guidelines 5-7
Guidelines 8-10