I listened as he calmly itemized his points. He’d thought it out rather well, to the extent that I found myself nodding along while he told me that Star Wars was probably a lot scarier than the Weeping Angels and that people died in Harry Potter. His final point tipped the scales firmly in his favor.
“If it turns out that it’s too scary or if I have bad dreams, then I’ll wait and try to watch it again when I’m eight.”
I decided to switch my decision and turned on Neflix then and there to introduce him to the Doctor.
My parents were big about letting their yes mean yes and their no mean no. It was a popular parenting method when I was a kid and, while it was good to a certain extent (preventing whining, pleading, and giving us the knowledge that when they said they’d do something, they would) it also meant that new information did not change their decision. They could never be persuaded. I decided, after having kids, to change things up a bit.
There are still things on which I don’t budge. The kids know not to even ask. But sometimes, especially when presented with calm points rather than whining, I let them change my mind. They get to win.
In a life that’s filled with being told what to do and when to do it from the time they wake up in the mornings, they relish those wins. My hope these conversation will help keep the lines of communication open when they’re teens.
Fingers crossed.
How do you deal with changing your decisions?
