Did you ever come to the decision to start telling your kids "Yes!" when ever possible?

This is the first half of a post I made on FB today. I’ll post the second half, which relates to my grandkids and an incident a couple of weeks ago, regarding a check, further on down, if the opportunity comes up:

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When the kids were very small, at some point I suddenly realized that the word “NO!” was coming out of my mouth a LOT. It was to the point that if they opened their mouth and inhaled to say something I’d snap “NO!” before even hearing what they were going to say!

Finally my smarter self pulled me aside and said, “What is wrong with you? Why are you doing that? It’s ridiculous. Let’s look at it from another angle….listen to them first, then say “YES!” as often as you possibly can.”

My Smarter Self is so smart. I adopted the philosophy of listening to them and then saying “YES!” whenever I could, and it had a wonderful affect. The kids were happier and more….trusting. I was happier and I didn’t feel so beleaguered.

Then those days sped by and I don’t have to give my children permission to do anything anymore. They can have all the offspring they want.

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Fluther thoughts?