As a parent, stop and think why you say "No"

Sometimes as a parent - and maybe more often when you parent a more spirited, more involved child - you can get in to the habit of saying "No." A lot.

In order to prevent a problem or to keep on track to get where you're going or whatever it is, it is so easy to just say "No" to something a child wants to do.

I started to say "No" to the situation pictured here yesterday, but then I stopped and considered why I was saying "No."

Someone was watering up the hill somewhere and there was a ribbon of water running down the street. Not a lot. Small enough Brady could block it with his foot and then eventually both feet, LOL.

When I stepped back and paused, I realized there wasn't enough water for him to get all wet and he wasn't trying to anyway. What he was trying to do was make a dam and it was working!

Pretty soon, when I stopped fussing at him, he got me involved too. Here I am using my foot as the dam and he has his little finger on a rock pretending to be a stranded guy, LOL. Then we'd move our feet quick and watch the held back water rush down. We also got to see where the water went when it met the obstacle of our feet.

This was a nice fun little moment for us. It was science. It was nature. And it was really okay. There was no reason to say "No," and I'm glad I stopped and thought before I pushed too hard. It's good sometimes to consider why we say what we say, and make sure there really is a good reason for it.