5 Ways to Ensure a Fun Yes Day for Siblings

If you have more than one child, I’m sure you’re no stranger to hearing your kids argue with each other. Regardless of how close siblings are, there’s always something to disagree about.

One way to help negate these disagreements is to have a yes day for siblings. This can occur on National Sibling Day, which is April 10 in the US and May 31 in Europe, or any other day of the year.

If you’re familiar with a yes day, it’s pretty much the same, but the siblings need to plan the day together and agree on what will be done. If you’re not familiar with a yes day, it’s pretty much how it sounds. Everything your children ask you on that day is answered with a yes, within reason, of course.

To make sure your family has a positive, enjoyable day, set a few guidelines.

1. Let your children know what acceptable plans would be and what unacceptable plans would be. Is it just dangerous things that are off-limits, or are there other limits they need to plan within?
2. Is there a certain day that will be their Sibling Yes Day, or do they need to figure that out? If they’re deciding on the day, then let them know what days would work for you.
3. Is there a monetary limit to the day?
4. How many outings (if any are allowed), and what type are acceptable? If you don’t let them know your limit, you might drive all over town to more than a dozen places.
5. Let your kids know that they need to agree on everything that is done for the day. Whether that means they take turns picking things and the other just deals with it, even if they don’t like it, or they agree on things together is up to them. The bottom line is they need to work this out on their own and come to an agreement on how they’re going to approach the planning.

Once your kids have the guidelines, let them start planning. Let them know you’re available if they have any questions or want clarification on something. Otherwise, they’re on their own (unless they’re younger and then you’ll need to help guide their planning).

Depending on the age of your kids, your Yes Day for Siblings would be a great time to help them learn about money as well. You could combine your Sibling Yes Day with a Paying with Cash Day if you’ve given your kids a budget they need to stay within.

Once your kids have their Yes Day for Siblings planned out and have picked their day, have them write up a loose schedule of the day. If they want to wait until the actual day to figure out exactly what they want to do, that’s fine too. Just have them write down a list of the activities they agreed on, so they don’t forget them.

When the appointed day comes, have fun! The experiences you share with your kids on your Yes Day for Siblings will create wonderful engagement and memories.