Thanks, Kitty. I think that my daughter (age 22, just married in May) is the hardest person for me to say no to. I've said "no", the past two years, to helping her anymore with her taxes. Last year it was easier to say no, but, this year, as a married Canadian resident/dual citizen, and not just an dual citizen student in Canada, taxes are more complicated for her. So, she pushed me quite a bit harder to help. I offered, if she can't figure it out, to pay an accountant this year, to do it for her, and then she'd have a tax strategy to copy in future years. Not sure, though, that she plans to take me up on my offer. It's easy to ask mom to do things, but, when mom gives her a somewhat different solution, she can maybe do it herself.

Also, when she was home at Christmas, and we were getting ready to go on an extended family vacation to Branson with my husband's family, she pushed me, when hubby and I planned an excursion to Silver Dollar City, to check with all the other family members to see if they wanted to come along (so that she could decide if she wanted to go -- she wanted to hang out with her cousins and wondered if they'd be hanging out in Branson or going to Silver Dollar City too). Although I had absolutely no problem with anyone coming along, I had not one ounce of desire to be the organizer for such a trip. I simply told her that, Dad and I were going, she and her brother were welcome to come along and we'd pay. But I let her know that she was welcome to follow up to see if others were interested if she wished to. That was simply not going to be my job. Again, it's easy for her to ask mom to do things. Things are less likely to happen if I give an alternate suggestion.

Anyways, those are two recent examples of times when I've "just said no".

~ Faith