How Learning to Say No Allowed Me To Say Yes
I know it is already February, but I have been reflecting on how enjoyable this past holiday season was for me.
As you know form previous holiday posts, I love Christmas and embrace it fully from decorating to baking, from visiting to crafting.
But this year, my children (when asked) did not want to do most of the extra things we had always done in the past. They just wanted to decide on the fly and be free to do nothing at all but be together. So I said no.
I said no to the baking of dozens of cookies and making of homemade to chocolate mixes for the neighbours. I said no to the big family dinner that I usually made, I said no to attending extra parties.
We did put up our numerous trees, but the kids each picked some ornaments from the Dollar Store and decorated their individual mini trees as they liked. We still hosted the family dinner on Boxing Day, I said no to cooking the big family dinner and we all ordered Swiss Chalet instead. I said no to the hectic addressing and mailing of cards and they’re going out for Valentine’s Day instead.
And you know what? In saying no, I felt more relaxed and in the moment with my children.
I said yes to playing in the snow and going to movies. I said yes to building forts, and to having movie dates at home with popcorn in our pjs. I LOVED it! We made messes that we didn’t clean up right away, and learned new games to play. We decided last minute to go to Niagara Falls for New Year’s Eve and headed to the waterpark for some wet and wild fun.
Although I love doing all the extras at Christmas (it IS my favourite time of the year), this year I learned that sometimes it is okay to say no in order to allow myself to say yes.
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The plan is set up camp on the front lawn, bring the dogs, the baby and the candy all out front. We are going to have a little campfire and camping chairs.
An additional hope that we will be able to connect with more families and parents by being out front.
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