A lesson learned

I want to become more of a "yes" parent and less of a "no" parent.  I find myself saying "no" to the kids more often than what I should.  I hate that!  I want to say "yes" to them more often when it isn't hurting anyone or something that is wrong.  Today, when we were playing outside, Samuel asked me if he could get the scrap wood out of the garage.  It was almost lunchtime so I told him no.  After he kept on begging me, I eventually said yes.  After he got the wood out he said he needed a hammer.  I told him "no" again (seriously! why in the world?!?) until he convinced me that he could go inside and go downstairs by himself and get the hammer because he knew right where it was.  I ended up letting him and he played with that wood and his tools for a good hour.  There was no reason to say "no" to those things when he asked except for the fact that I wanted to eat lunch and I didn't want to go and dig his tools out!!  Silly and stupid.  I'm going to try harder to be a "yes" parent when there is nothing wrong or bad with what he/she is asking me!

 The girls joined in on the fun for a little bit.

 Building his "house"

 Concentration.

 Working hard.  Just like he sees his Daddy do.

 "Marking" the wood with his chalk.  All his own idea!

 Finally was able to pause from his hard work to look up and give me a smile!

 Then he wanted a picture to show how he was strong enough to pick up the wood!

 While Samuel was busy at his construction site, Hope and Aliyah were driving their babies around the driveway.

 With the girls driving/walking around, Samuel needed to put up orange cones so that the girls wouldn't accidentally walk or drive thru his construction site!

What does it say when Samuel can write Hope's name so much better than his own?  "S" and "M" are hard letters to write and he gets frustrated with them easily.  All of Hope's letters are pretty easy and straightforward to write so he'll often write Hope's name on things instead of his own!!