Do you ever hear those words and cringe? Maybe cringe isn’t the right word…it sounds a bit to harsh. Do you ever feel like when you hear those 4 words you could snap your fingers and be somewhere all by yourself and just focus on what needs done?

Just imagine…you need to stain so many pieces of wood and you only have a two hour time frame to do that. So you get to work. You work for two hours uninterrupted. You listen to music as loud as you want, or maybe catch up on that podcast you’ve become obsessed with. And you work! You get it done…ahh..

Then you get woke up from that daydream with “Mom can I help?”

Now let me stop and right here and just make a quick note and say that I seriously have an amazing ten year old. Matthew is always helping anyone and everyone that he can. He loves learning new things and always eager to lend a helping hand.

So…when he comes up to me and asks to help I almost always say yes. Especially when he says that Pa taught him how to stain so he’s really good at it. Saying yes is hard for me. I’m a Virgo through and through and perfectionism runs through my blood! Something I’m trying to work on is letting go of the reigns and putting my trust in someone else to do the job for me. Okay that’s a little far fetched…if it were anyone other than my kids asking I’d easily say “Nah I’ve got it. Thanks for the offer though.” Because let’s be honest…no one can stain a piece of wood as perfect as I can 🤦🏼‍♀️🙄 Please!

But I did it…I said yes. And guess what…he did amazing!! He might have put it on a little thick and will make sanding it a little bit harder but guess what…I’m 99% sure he will also offer to help sand so that will be a lesson learned on his part when his arms feel like they are going to fall off (don’t ask how I know that he will feel that way because I’ve never done this!).

I am so thankful for this boy and his helpfulness…even if he talks nonstop the entire time he’s helping.

Oh and another side note…I also had this crazy girl wanting to help me paint. So she did just that!

Moral of the story: kids will never learn if you don’t say yes! It’s hard…I know! Who has time to go back and redo what they messed up…you do! Time with your kiddos is so incredibly valuable. You can have the most amazing conversations sitting there staining some wood with your ten year old!