This past Monday, my first patient of the day walked into the office smiling ear to ear. I asked him how his weekend was and he said, “AWESOME!!!” Being 6:30am, it took me a moment to recover from his enthusiasm. His energetic, emphatic answer to my question begged a follow-up. “Why was it so AWESOME, Jeff?” Without hesitation he replied, “Yesterday was “YES” day.”
Of course it was.
“What the heck is “YES” day, Jeff?” He went on to share the details. Now that I understand all of the fantastic “ins and outs” of “YES” day, I must share them with you!
YES Day Particulars
1) YES day is held on any given Saturday or Sunday.
2) YES day must be spontaneous.
3) YES day is appointed by one parent, in the morning, before the start of the day.
4) YES day is appointed to a child or spouse within the household.
5) Regardless of previous obligations, all calendars are cleared.
6) The recipient, after being stared at with great anticipation, contrives and announces the most fun, crazy, best day they can think of.
7) The best part? The parents or spouses HAVE to say “YES!”
- Ice Cream for breakfast? “YES!”
- Candy bar, arcade games, candy bar, bowling, candy bar, swimming? “YES!”
- Hitting the beach to build sandcastles in December? “YES!”
- Watching back-to-back movies, complete with an individual mega tub of popcorn? “YES!”
- Wearing costumes, including feather boa, and playing six consecutive rounds of “tea party?” “YES!”
DISCLAIMER: YES day activities should not intentionally endanger or harm any family member. Illegal activity or activities that result in your eight year- old landing in jail will not be permitted. Also, any activity that is “too humiliating” to a parent or teenage brother is not grounds for denying said activity. WELLFITandFED will not be responsible for any cramps from hilarity that ensue on YES day.
I loved it. YES day sounded like the BEST. THING. EVER!! I wanted a YES day!
I want to make my husband attend morning yoga and then drink a huge green smoothie. I want to head to a matinee and then take a three-hour nap. I want to be whisked off to dinner in a sparkly dress and then have a twenty-minute foot rub…on each foot! YES day is going to rock.
I asked Jeff how YES day worked for his family. He smiled and replied; “YES days are deeply meaningful. They not only make one of my kids feel super special for the day, they also allow the whole family a sense of freedom that doesn’t often happen in our over-scheduled lives.” Jeff explained that he not only participated in activities that he never thought he would do, he loved them.
I am going to schedule a surprise YES day for my household. What about you?
Share below your YES day experiences! What did you do and how did it turn out?
5 Responses
That sounds like so much fun! I am definitely going to try it. What a great way to celebrate spontaneity with your family. Love it, thank you!
We are doing the yes day for sure. Although, my youngest child will have waaayyyy too much sugar on his yes day, I am sure. God, please help me on that day….lol.
Lindy (mother of 3 adorable children and one fantastic husband)
That is fantastic Lindy! You can put a couple of ground rules in that involves a sugar limit but it might not be QUITE as fun!!
I live so often in an indulgent, unplanned, and lackadaisical mindset that I think I’m going to establish “OPPOSITE DAYS”, wherein I have to say “Opposite!” to myself when I’m tempted to indulge in unhealthy or lazy behavior. Ha ha! Maybe then I can lean toward being well fit and fed. 🙂 Thanks for this sweet sentiment, Doctor.
This is gonna be tough to implement. The cats only say “yes” when it benefits them directly and I dare not give them this much authority. Sigh…