Yes Day: A Cautionary Tale
by Jenners • 04/20/2011 • BB/The Little One, Confessions, Lessons Learned, Mr. Jenners • 94 Comments
WARNING
The (very long) post you are about to read contains scenes of unimaginable horror but also valuable information for parents everywhere. If this story can help just one parent avoid the pain and expense of a Yes Day, then this will not be published in vain. If you have children that can read, you are advised not open this post in their presence.
January 2011
Be afraid of this book ... very afraid!
During a car ride, the Little One casually mentions a book he had seen at school called Yes Day. It is about a little boy whose parents answer “yes!” to everything for an entire day. Sighing wistfully, the Little One looked out the window and said sadly, “I sure wish I could have a Yes Day.”
Aware that we were being manipulated, Mr. Jenners took control: “Tell you what, if you never talk about it again and don’t keep asking about it, you can have Yes Day on April 14th. Just tell us on April 14th and that will be Yes Day.” The Little One eagerly agreed, and Mr. Jenners and I snickered to ourselves that we had pulled a fast one. I mean, what are the chances that he would remember Yes Day a full three months away!!!!???
Three months passes…
During these three months, not one word was said about Yes Day. Naturally, both Mr. Jenners and I forgot all about it. But, of course, you know what happened on April 14th, don’t you? Of course you do! But let me tell you about it anyway.
April 14th, 7:00 a.m.
The Little One (TLO): Mommy!!! Get up! It is 7:00 o’clock! Me (slightly dazed … I was dreaming darn it!): Mmm…what. Oh yeah. OK. I’m up. TLO: Mommy, is it April 14th? Me (still struggling to wake up): Um, yeah. That sounds right. Yes. It is April 14th. Why? Are those Easter eggs due for school today? TLO: No, silly. Not the eggs. April 14th … don’t you remember? Me (confused): Remember what? TLO: April 14th is Yes Day! Remember you told me if I reminded you on April 14th that it would be Yes Day? Well, it is and I remembered!!!!!Digging deep into the recesses of my cobwebby brain, I realized that this indeed sounded familiar. It was coming back to me now—coming back like a bad dinner that you shouldn’t have eaten, or a dead body you didn’t quite check to make sure was dead, or a rake you left on the lawn and then stepped on and it hit your head, or a … well, I think you get the picture.
Me (stalling for time and feigning confusion): Yes Day? What? What are you talking about? TLO: Remember back in January when we were riding in the car and I asked if I could have a Yes Day and then Daddy said that if I remembered and asked you about it on April 14th that I could have a Yes Day? And now it is April 14th and I remembered so it is Yes Day!! Woo hoo! I’m so excited!! I want to go to the zoo! Me (beginning to panic): Let’s talk to Daddy!Once Mr. Jenners confirmed that it was Yes Day—damn it all to hell!—we had to think quickly. Realizing we were backed into a corner and in over our heads—the Little One was chanting “I want to go to the zoo! I want a dog! I want new toys! I want a sleepover!”—Mr. Jenners quickly pointed out that it was a school day and that perhaps it would be better if we had Yes Day on Saturday. (In retrospect, we should have just stuck it out on the 14th when the Little One would have been trapped in school for most of the day. But it was early and we were caught off guard. Mistakes were made.)
The Little One—a bit quicker on the uptake than either one of us and seeing that a weekend day would be better for him than a school day—quickly agreed. Mr. Jenners retreated to think more (he is the one who has to match wits with the Little One as I’ve proved myself woefully unable to do so once the Little One began thinking independently and outfoxed me multiple times.)
A series of tense negotiations was held. The Little One was told he could not ask for anything completely outrageous (a dog) or that we could not control (going to his friend’s house for a sleepover) or that was too expensive (in other words, no shopping spree at Toys R Us). Otherwise, everything else was fair game. Then Mr. Jenners dreamed up a brilliant loophole: The Little One would be limited to 10 questions. The Little One agreed, but I went to bed full of worry, wondering what Yes Day had in store.
As we went to bed that night, Mr. Jenners said: “I sure hope he doesn’t figure out that one of his questions could be to ask for more questions. If he does, we’re screwed.”
YES DAY, 6:30 a.m.
A Side Note: As part of our marriage contract, Mr. Jenners and I cut a deal that I get up with the Little One on weekends while Mr. Jenners gets to sleep. Then, when Mr. Jenners gets up, I get to go back to bed. Of course, this resulted in me being on the front lines in the initial Yes Day skirmishes without back-up. Consequences would prove severe.
Light saber battling ensued, ending only when someone (and it ALWAYS ends this way) ended up in tears. But, drunk with power and possiblity, the Little One was ready with more questions.
TLO: I know what my next Yes Day question is. Me (wary): What? TLO: Can we got to the zoo today? Me (starting to answer): Yyyyyeeeee…. TLO (panicking): Wait!! I want to expand that question. Can we go to the zoo today, eat pizza in the snack stand there and get me something from the gift shop? Me (impressed despite myself): Yes. But it is supposed to rain really hard today so we might have to do that another day if the weather is really bad. TLO: Oh. Yeah … OK. I guess that is OK. Hey mommy, I have another Yes Day question. Me (feeling confident that we were down to just 8 questions already): What is it? TLO: Can I have 50 more Yes Day questions? Me (internally): S*#$, f(*$, D#^#!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blueberry -- the newest member of the family
Once Mr. Jenners woke up, the Little One hit us with the big question: “Can I have a pet?” He knew that a dog and cat was out of the question (allergies, years of a total flat-out “No ways!” from Mr. Jenners) so he set his sights lower and asked for a hamster. Mr. Jenners and the Little One compromised and decided on a betta fish who would be named Blueberry.
When we went to the pet store to get Blueberry and his supplies, we convinced the Little One to stop at Home Depot. You might think he would deny this request, but he was thrilled. There is tons of stuff he likes to do at home improvement stores and this was the day that he could not be denied.
Mommy, can I sit on all the tractors? YES! Mommy, can I open up all the refrigerators? YES! Mommy, can I feel all the rugs? YES! Mommy, can I open up the cabinets in the model kitchens? YES! Mommy, can I climb on the step ladders? YES! Mommy, can I play with the tape measures? YES! Mommy, can I sit on all the outdoor furniture chairs and sofas? YES! Mommy, can I scan the items we’re buying in the self-checkout lane? YES!It was like a carnival…only it didn’t cost a cent. I was beginning to think that maybe Yes Day wasn’t going to be so bad after all. (Stop chuckling. I know I’m naive. How do you think I got into this situation to begin with?)
On our way home with Blueberry, he said “Since we’re not going to the zoo today because of rain, I want to go to a movie. And I want to get popcorn AND Sno-Caps at the movie. And then I want to go to the toy store. And I want to eat dinner at Friendlys. And I want to stay up late tonight.”
(Insert sounds of brakes screeching here. Yes Day was going to turn out to be long AND expensive after all.)
One of the benefits of having only one child is that you can practice tag team parenting. Since I had never gotten to go back to sleep that morning, Mr. Jenners took the Little One to see Hop. (And yes … he did get popcorn AND Sno-Caps. And managed to convince Mr. Jenners to let him play a claw game at the theater.)
When they got home, Mr. Jenners had “bad kid movie headache” and passed out on the couch. After a rousing light saber battle (which I HATE playing but couldn’t say no to on this day), the Little One and I left for Toys R Us in search of a “Fire Horse” Webkinz he had seen at some point.
It was a nightmare as soon as we stepped in the store. (As I knew it would be.) Although he had been told not to go “crazy,” the Little One was going to push things to the limit to see what he could score.
Can I have a Pillow Pet?Can I have a Lego set?
Can I have this Rio monkey with the long tail?
Can I have this Club Penguin animal?
Can I have this Angry Birds toy?
Can I have a video game?
Can I have this 25 inch rubber T-Rex?
Can I have a robot claw?
Can I have a Star Wars ship?
Can I have Matchbox cars?
Can I have a swing set?
Can I have new bike?
Can I have a skateboard?
Can I have this puzzle?
In the end, I bargained him down to four items, which ended up costing only $23.16, which I thought was quite good. But we still hadn’t found the Webkinz so I made a really stupid mistake: I told him we could go to the mall to look for it.
Can I ride the escalator?Can I sit on those ride-on cars?
Can I get a cookie?
Can I get a chocolate-covered apple?
Can we go to Build-A-Bear?
Can I go in the Disney store?
Can I ride on the mall train?
Can I smell the candles?
Can I get a Pillow Pet?
Can I get this rhino Webkinz?
Can I go see the Easter Bunny?
For the record, I gave in to the escalator, the cookie, the Easter Bunny and the Webkinz … but not the rhino Webkinz because they wanted $32 for it!!!! (Insane, yes?)
When we finally got home, Mr. Jenners gave me grief for what I’d bought him, but I told him he had no idea what I was up against and I thought I’d done pretty darn good all things considered.
Then we were off to Friendly’s for dinner, where, of course, he got the three scoop “build your own” sundae and played the claw machine in the lobby.
Fortunately, by the time we got home, it was almost 9:00—his negotiated late bedtime.
And, that, my friends, was Yes Day.
In the end, Yes Day cost about $200 (movie, food, toys, fish, fish equipment, snacks, games, Easter Bunny photo).
Seeing that your child is a master manipulator, has a mind like a steel trap, and could hold his own making a deal with Donald Trump: priceless.
I am so glad the girl is too old for that book. Just in case, I’m not going to mention the existence of Yes Day at all. No. Way.
Sounds kind of like a wonderful day. Long, anxious but how often are you obigated to say Yes instead of No or wait or we’ll see. I’m glad you warned me tho, in case it comes up at my house. I’ll definitely have to put limits on it, but I bet TLO had a wonderful day.
I will say tho, the most amazing part is that he kept it to himself for that long, seriously impressed.
oh man! Horrible!! I was cringing most of the time! Darn you smart children! Could have been worse though, I suppose, but still make sure he knows it was once in a lifetime, not an annual holiday!
Thank you thank you for the warning! And yes he is a very smart kid.
OMG! lol…well Blueberry is very cute at least. Yes day was pricy. Now how about NO day?
I can’t let my kids hear about Yes Day!!
You and Mr. Jenners were real troopers in living up to your end of the bargain. The Little One has a great memory apparently. I can just hear all those questions one after the other.
You are a brave woman! I don’t think I’d mind a “yes” day so much if we agreed off the top that there would be a price limit.
What am I saying? Just thinking about the hours of board games, sponge bob cartoons and pretend battles gives me a headache. I said pretend battles because that covers so much (light sabers, nerf guns, little army guys, etc.). I never last long at anything that requires a lot of pretending.
This was so funny and very well written. I’m happy to report that things are much better when your little one has little ones of his own. When my grandkids want a yes day, my daughter knows it’s time for them to visit Nana. I now live for Yes Days.
I think that is what Nanas are for!! I bet you are a very popular nana!
First, let me say that I am glad that this kind of stuff happens to other people too.
That said, quite possibly my favorite line: “But it was early and we were caught off guard. Mistakes were made.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
And, I was just thinking . . . did you specify April 14, 2011? I think that the year could have been your loophole . . . but . . . hindsight always makes me want to poke my eyes out.
Thanks for the laugh girlie!
Oh you are good. I should have consulted with you before we did this and you could have given us the year loophole!!
I love all parts of this. Really, every kid should have a “yes” day, and before the age of nine. You are a good sport, and this makes a wonderful story.
I do think it is a wonderful thing for a child to experience. Having said that, I think once is enough!!!
Oh my gosh, I am so glad that my kids are too old to be interested in the Yes Day book! I know that it was probably horrible at the time, but reading about it was fantastically funny. Your little boy will be running the country one day.
It was simultaneously horrible and hilarious … and I kept thinking “This is totally going to make a good blog post” — so that helped out.
Wow! That must have been like the best day ever for the little one. It beats out Christmas and his birthday!
I’m glad that that book cannot be easily found in the library or any of the schools that we will be sending E to. I would die if I had to deal with a Yes Day with her.
It’s funny but reading this post was like watching one of those horror movies where you’re constantly screaming out to the actors “Don’t open that door that is so obviously where the killer is hidden!” I just know that one day Jason and I will fall into a similar trap despite all warnings.
He kept saying “This is even better than Christmas!” I’m sure you’ll fall into some similar kind of trap. It is hard not to … at least I hope I’m not the only gullible parent out there!
That made me laugh so much! Even though it was a lot of work for you guys, it sure sounds like a fun day for the Little One. I’m with the others, though…I want my own Yes Day!
Wouldn’t your own Yes Day be awesome!!??? The Little One offered one to me … of course, he has no money so I don’t see how he is going to pay for my spa day, movies and fancy dinner out!
Oh, I’m rolling around laughing here… you’ll never be this naive again… but remember – now it’s YOUR turn to have NO day!
Well, according to the Little One, every day is NO day. OF course, he exaggerates!! In my opinion, it feels like most days are YES days!!
WOW. Words escape me.
I know. When I realized he had remembered, I was dumbfounded and speechless.
I am banning that book from my house!!! It sounds like you had a totally non-forgettable day. Those kids are so very smart sometimes and yours seems exceptionally that way!! Hope you recover soon!!
I agree … nothing short of a total ban on that book will save you!!! : )
Oh, Jen, I am still laughing
He’s quite a smartie you have. Good for you!
I can see my future … and I am doomed.
Wow! I generally lurk but had to drop in to say you guys are awesome for keeping the promise. I have one of those kids who never forgets a thing so know what it’s like when months later they come at you with “mommy, remember when.” Thanks for sharing. I’ll make sure my son never sees that book.
Yes … keep that book from entering your house is you too have a kid with a memory that amazes! Thanks for “delurking.” : )
I can’t believe it. You are a GREAT MOM! I couldn’t have done the yes thing.
Well, we both felt like we had to keep our word. We did promise … and he did keep up his end of the deal.
This is HILARIOUS!! As a fellow mother, I feel your pain. It’s amazing how intelligent kids can be with motivation. I cannot believe he remembered AND figured out to ask for more questions. I am so impressed that you remained as patient as you did.
I know!!! With the proper motivation, kids can move the world.
really, I would think that you would know better. I mean, he is YOUR son!
lol
You would think. He continues to surprise me every step along the way.
wow…with three kids I would go bankrupt! I still can’t believe he remembered! Impressive.
I know! Who would think he could remember it…and keep quiet about it for three months! We had no idea what hit us!
Sounds like a fun book. I’m going to visit my grandchildren on Sunday. Maybe I’ll buy them the book and give it to them just before I leave…
And then you can bid them goodbye forever as their parents forbid you to ever talk to them again!!! : )
OMG! That was amazing! My family has read Yes Day! before and asked for a day of their own. I said yes but totally forgot about it and they did too. After reading this post, I’m thanking God that we did. We have five kids in this family. I could imagine what that would cost us.
You did great!
You dodged a major bullet!!! Five kids + Yes Day = Brink of Bankruptcy, I think!!! I looked at the book online and saw the kid asked for stuff like using hair gel … obviously it is total fiction!!!!
Ok, Jenners, you are officially the COOLEST mom EVER!!! I wish I had a yes day. Maybe I could convince my family to give me one for my birthday? Oh all the things I could do…
You know, this kind of reminds me of that book/movie “Baby’s Day Out.” Further proof that dreams really do come true.
I’m going to have to print out your comment and carry around with me when I need a reminder that I am a cool mom!! : )
And good luck getting your own yes day! If you pull it off, I want to hear about … and 10% of all proceeds! : )
You may be the best mom ever. (And I’m never reading my kid that book…)
Do not bring that book into your house. It is like playing with fire!
That post had me smiling the entire time I was reading it. Kids!
I’m glad someone was amused by it! HAHA! : )
Truly amazing. You are patient beyond words. I would say for a Yes Day, you did pretty good on the budget.
How is Blueberry – still alive?
And T Rex is obsessed with claw machines. What a scam, though, the just don’t grip anything.
Blueberry is thriving actually. We had a betta fish before and learned a lot about them. He is living in a betta mansion and building bubble nests all over the place. But I’ve found that fish can be tricky. We’ll see how it goes.
And we do limit him to playing only the “play until you win” claw games. Otherwise we’d be broke!
OMG!! I think I felt every emotion along with you as I read this post! First of all, good for you for following through with all of it despite thinking he would forget about it by April. I would probably have tried to wiggle out of it someway. Also, good for you for having the sense to negotiate certain rules before beginning. I’m not sure I would have thought of that.
You know, $200 was probably a relatively small price to pay for an experience that he will probably treasure forever. And…you do know his friends’ parents are gonna hate you and Mr. Jenners for setting a precident.
This really was priceless!
I’m already hearing about it from his best friend’s mom … as her kids are now lobbying for a Yes Day. I hope our friendship survives this!! : )
That is definitively a big no! I can only hope my little one never asks for a yes day.
Hilarious reading about yours though.
Now that you’ve been warned, you must be vigilant in defending your household from this dangerous book.
I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think this whole thing was precious. Just imagining this young child, not saying anything for TWO MONTHS, probably marking his calendar every day, telling his friends about it with anticipation, I would say that he will never forget this day. To me that would be worth the $200. Now, just as long as he doesn’t think he gets one every two months…
Oh no … that Yes Day is a rare occurrence has been made very very clear. I’ll be very curious to see what happens next April 14th.
Now you need to negotiate a Yes Day where he does everything you ask. Get him to help with chores (like toilet cleaning), take him to stores he hates.
Make him regret the entire Yes Day phenomena, so he’ll never ask again.
Oh, and never fall for Opposite Day, or let him celebrate the birthday of a favorite cartoon character.
For years, we had birthday cake and lasagna on June 19, the birthday of Garfield.
We’re all suckers at some point.
I love that you celebrated the birthday of Garfield … though cake and lasagna is a definite win-win situation. What can I say … we were outplayed by a 6-year-old!
This book will NEVER come into my house. Thank yo for the warning.
Perhaps organizing a book burning party is in order! HAHA! You must NEVER let them hear of this.
He is a smartie! I think you survived Yes Day very well. At my house it would have been much more costly – in terms of money AND my mental health.
Well, you have multiple kids, which ups the ante quite a bit.
As usual, this is ENTIRELY Mr. Jenner’s fault. I highly suggest you pay him back with a “no” day….or month. *wink wink*
Oh you are such a truth speaker!!! And I’m envisioning a No Year … wouldn’t that be wonderful!!?
Lots of good suggestions by your commentators, but I like “Yes Day” for Mother’s Day the best!
I’m sharing this one on facebook.
I like the concept of a Yes Day for Mother’s Day too!!!
Yikes, what an adventure! I like Anna’s suggestion…
I thought Anna’s suggestion was devious and genius! I plan to implement it!
OMG!!! Taking the lessons to heart when young nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews think they can take advantage of ole naive BFR and Mr. BFR. Ha! We are prepared. We are strong. We have MAC card…..
Just hope there is a limit on that MAC card!! : )
I felt your pain reading this, but I also cracked up laughing. Imagine how much fun it will be to remember that day when he’s older. When you have grandkids, you should plant the idea for a Yes Day in their heads and then sit back and laugh.
Oh you are a devious genius! I love it … and I will do that for sure!!!
This is my favorite blog post in ages! I love it. Towards the end of it I starting thinking, you should have set up a price limit instead of a number of yes’s. I was going to suggest 150.00.
I think this whole day is wonderful. Your child will remember it forever and if you really look at it, you did a bunch of ordinary things that are now wonderful memories.
I think you should make it an annual event.
You are the best mom ever.
An annual event??? I tell you, I’ll be dreading next April 14th!!!! : )
And I’m going to frame that “best mom ever” part of your comment and carry it around for proof.
Actually, I meant “only” children, not “old” children. I was thinking of mine who will be 29 this year, bless us all!
This was hilarious! I don’t believe we ever had a “yes” day all day at our house. However, surviving a teenage girl through multiple Homecoming dances, Prom, pierced ears, volleyball, softball, old car, new car, The Gap, Express, Old Navy, Nordstrom’s shoe section, a swimming pool, college, and finally a wedding with all the trimmings was not easy or cheap! Aren’t old children priceless? Who could afford more? LOL
Sounds like she had a whole “yes” childhood!
Oh my gosh, this post made me laugh and very grateful that this book did not exist when my son was little. I have to admire your son though and his negotiating skills!
I did admire him too ….grudgingly.
Holy Cow! I hope “Yes Day” is not in any college libraries!!
However, I think we should lobby to remake Mother’s Day into Yes Day for Moms.
I support your proposed change to Mother’s Day wholeheartedly!
I’m glad you survived with your sanity intact and only $200.00 out of your pocket. That’s one smart kid you have
He is scary smart. I’m pretty sure he is smarter than me at this point.
Sigh… I miss tag-team parenting. My husband and my arrangement is one weekend morning for each of us. Thank you for the heads up on the Yes day!
Tag team parenting is an excellent thing. I imagine you are probably missing it. Once you start playing man-to-man, it gets harder. And when you’re outnumbered … all bets are off.
I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, you better watch that Little One of yours! He is one smart cookie!
I know … I need to on my toes at all times.
Gosh, I want a yes day! I am sure that The Little One is the envy of all his friends now, and becareful, he is probably planning how to take over the world next
I suspect you are right! And I want my own Yes Day too!
That was pretty funny, but not at the time, I’m sure. If my kids ever see that book, I’m dead.
The whole time, I was thinking “This is going to make a great blog post.” That helped … a bit.
Whoa. Yes. Cautionary tale. I’m so glad my kids never saw that book…
You must do everything in your power to keep it from them!
The author of that book should be tarred and feathered. And maybe drawn and quartered.
I agree 100%!