one thing

I second guess myself as a mother all the time.

I feel like I fail more often than I get things right.

Yesterday, though, when I used the technique I'm going to tell you about in just a sec,

I realized, I've got this one thing down.

Now, I don't always remember to use it

and it doesn't always have positive results,

but much of the time, it works.

As a general rule, I try to answer affirmatively if possible.

For example,

yesterday, when Lexi was supposed to be going to sleep at naptime, she asked if I could read her a book.

I could have just said, "No." because, it wasn't time to read right then,

but instead, I said, "Maybe after nap I can read it to you."

To which she happily replied, "Okay." and rolled over. 

Basically, I was saying the same thing ~ there would be no book at the moment,

but I said it in a way that left her hopeful, rather than deflated.

Obviously, every question can't be answered with a 'yes',
but that doesn't mean it has to be answered with a 'NO" either.

An affirmative answer is one thing that works for me!