When your kids are driving you crazy, there are two default responses.

One is to declare a universal “NO”–

— No, you cannot jump off the roof.

— No, you cannot drive two hundred miles to a rock concert with someone you just met online.

— No, you cannot see what happens when you put a whole cantaloupe in the microwave and hit “5 minutes.”

Sometimes “no” IS the right answer.

But the other automatic parental default is, surprisingly, the polar opposite. Need to get restless and rustling kids out from underfoot? “Go out and play!”

The directive “GO out and play” removes children from the world they are trying to manipulate and orchestrate. “Go out and play” is parent-speak for “Drop all the other stuff and just go explore life and enjoy the world.” It is, basically, the big YES!

“Go Out and Play!” is life’s big “Yes!”