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I am sure if you have children and you reflect upon your past couple of days, I am sure the word "no" was used more than once.  Honestly I feel I tell my kids "no" more than anything else on those trying days and it literally is second nature to me.  I mean here are just a few "no's" I used today:

"No Ayden, we do not bite people even if you are pretending to be a dinosaur."
"No Audrey you cannot eat another piece of candy."
"Ayden, I said no twice already, why would the third time be different?"
"I need you to listen to this word Audrey, 'No' you may not get out more paper from the writing center."
"There will be no dress up clothes out until this hot mess of a room is cleaned up!"

And the list could go on, but lets get real here.  How easy is it for you to say the word "no" to another adult?  Why is it that we are so quick to use the word "no" with our impressionable little ones, but we can't do it so easily with the adults in our life?

I recently had a discussion with a friend about if they made the right decision of saying "no" in a particular situation.  Honestly should we even be beating ourselves up over situations like this.  We are second guessing ourselves in the choices we make even when we know it is the best thing for us and our family.  I have this very same problem with saying "no" to adults as well, I want to keep everyone happy and help, but in return it is myself that is beginning to be stretched thin and my family suffers because I just have no more to give.

This is insane as I write this and reflect upon it more, we are willing to sacrifice our sanity and family to just please another person?  I mean it is one thing to give and help when you can, but why say "no" when we know it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back?  We have become a society that has made the word "no" a challenge to say.  This just seems ludicrous.  We need to be brave and say the word "no" when we know it is best and not look back.  We need to know and understand that we made the choice we did, not to be mean but because there wasn't anymore to give.  This is not selfish, but rather healthy my friends.  How is this so?  Well if you are giving to everyone how are you helping yourself overall?  Did doing that last errand for someone make you feel better or did it zap the last bit of energy you had and in return caused you to lose your temper with someone you loved?  See where I am going here.  Take care of you so that you can take care of others.

There you have it, now you have a challenge on your hand...say "no" when you need to.  It's going to be okay to do so and no one is going to judge you.  Don't feel bad about it, but embrace the fact that you took the step to say "no" and that you now can give a little more to yourself.