A Daily Message for My Children (at Ages 10, 8, and 6)

 Dear Banner, Quinn, & Knox,

Without fail, every.single.day, you ask Dad and me questions to which we have to continue to say no. It kills me to have to say no so often, so please stop asking me these questions. I promise I'll let you know if my answer changes. But, in the meantime:

• No, you cannot sleep in my bed tonight.
• No, I will not buy you Robux.
• No, you cannot have a sleepover tonight.
• No, you cannot stay up late.
• No, you cannot stay home from school.
• No, you cannot buy V-bucks.
• No, you cannot have that toy you just saw on the commercial.
• No, we're not giving you money for the claw machine.
• No, we're not skipping Sunday School.
• No, we're not going to the gift shop when we leave this attraction.
• No, I will not sleep in your bed.
• No, we aren't going to watch TV while we eat dinner.
• No, you cannot say "the F word."
• No, you can't stay home alone.
• No, I'm not buying you an iPhone.
• No, you don't have a fever, so no, you're not sick... so to school you go.
• No, no TikTok.
• No, you cannot play Grand Theft Auto.
• No, you cannot skip brushing your teeth.
• No, you cannot have more screen time.
• No, we're not going to a movie on a school night.
• No, I will not go upstairs/downstairs with you. You're a big boy.
• No, you can't do what I asked later. Do it now.
• No, you cannot sit up front.
• No, it's not your turn to choose what song/movie/show we watch/listen to - again.
• No, you cannot skip dinner and only eat dessert.
• No, you cannot call Grandma at this hour to stay up later - I see right through your little tactic of pulling on my heartstrings.
• No, we're not going to 7/11 - or Menchie's - or Handel's - or any other ice cream store - after school or after dinner every day.
• No, I will not get you another cup of water while you stall bedtime.
• No, we're not having a Yes Day.

I love you. Dad loves you. We know your favorite things, and we want to be able to give these things to you when you ask, but we wouldn't be good parents - or have any money left - if we said yes every time you ask - which is, as I said before, nearly every day. Please stop asking. One day when you are parents, you will see how hard it is to say no all the time. You're doing your part as kids to push the boundary, speak your mind, test our limits... but we're going to keep doing our part to do the four jobs you know we're here to do: keep you safe, keep you healthy (both physically and mentally), keep you kind, and keep you learning. We know we sound like broken records (you know, that's the thin plastic spinning disk that used to play music; when scratched, it tends to repeat itself over and over again), but then again, so do you. So, let's call a truce. You stop asking, and then I don't have to keep saying no. Deal?

I love you!
Love,

Mom