I Let My Son Plan a "Yes Day." Here's How it Went.

A few months ago on a rainy Sunday, my son and I watched “Yes Day,” a feel-good family flick. At the time, I just thought, “cute movie.” Fast forward to the dog days of summer, and I thought, “we could do that.” So, we did and here’s how it went down.

“Sleep until I wake up” was request number one. Typical for a tween, so we went with it. My son finally woke up at 10:30 a.m. After a quick untraditional breakfast of mac and cheese, we were ready to really get “Yes Day” underway.

We started the day off with a new haircut. He’d been asking for a few weeks and I was hesitant, but since hair grows back, a summer buzz cut was a “yes!” He was so excited about the new look and easy maintenance for swimming.

Then, we headed to look at LEGO sets. First, a stop at the Brick Store in downtown Roswell and then The LEGO Store at Perimeter Mall. The request was unlimited browsing time (since we are often in a rush) and to get a new set with at least 2,000 pieces. After browsing for about an hour, he settled on Minas Tirith, which also came with a free gift set, so he was very excited.

On the way home, we stopped at Tomato 2 Japanese Grocery in Peachtree Corners for more snacks. My son wanted to try Onigiri, which are hand-formed rice balls with classic Japanese fillings. He opted for a salmon roe, a salmon with mayo and two tuna ones. We also got some viral trend Push Pop Sushi.

After some extended screen time, we went to Target for a candy shopping spree. Again, he wanted unlimited aisle time. He also asked for up to six bags of candy. My son loves gummy candy, so he came home with Nerds Clusters, Skittles in two flavors, plus gummy worms and bears.

The rest of the afternoon was spent outside riding bikes with friends. For dinner, he requested his favorite meal – pesto pasta. We made the homemade pesto together. We capped off the day with a late bedtime because staying up until midnight should not only be for New Year’s Eve!

Words of Wisdom

The key to making your “Yes Day” something everyone will enjoy is to set some general parameters. Here are some of the guardrails I set up:

Nothing he chose could break one of our family rules. For example, he couldn’t ask to download a social media app or stay out with friends past dark.
Nothing he chose could cause damage or be permanent. In the movie, they drive their car through the car wash with the sunroof and windows open. This was my example to him of what we would not be saying “yes” to.
Create a budget. This will help to keep things manageable for you from the outset without having to say “no” in the moment.
Ask for an outline of requests a couple of days in advance. This way, I could ask clarifying questions or set expectations for one of my son’s ideas before “Yes Day” began.