No. Thanks!

“No. Thanks!” This is what I wish I said much more often as a young child. Instead I often felt obligated to give into requests like, “Give your Auntie a hug and a kiss Maya! Give me those cheeks! My turn!” As a child, I wasn’t given the opportunity to exercise agency over my body all of the time, especially during interactions with elders.

Because parenting and “adulting” feels like one big experiment, I want to experiment with ways to invite our young learners to explore self agency. Even though, I must admit. I still feel “offended” when children exercise their personal agency at times.

In those moments, I have the opportunity to go with in and process my emotions using several different tools. I recognize it’s MY responsibility to check myself, and I let young people in my life know that they are MORE than welcome to say, “No. Thank you!

Let’s sing about it! Invite them to sing about it!

According to a study done by Patrick Savage, director of Keio University Compmusic Lab, children are more receptive to concepts and ideas when they sing about it.

Let us know how it goes.

Be well. Be whole. Belong.

Who’s The Boss Lyric Video by Ms Maya featuring Monroe Snow