I would have given anything to keep her little.
—Jodi Picoult
C’mon, Dad, again! One more time! Can we keep going a little longer? Let’s start over! I don’t want to stop! You’ve heard all these things more times than you can count. The request for one more book before bed. One more time riding on your back. To watch that funny video one more time. To sing that song once more from the beginning. To hear the story over again. To jump in the pool one more time . . . and then one more time after that . . . and one more time after that.
No matter how patient and indulgent you are, there will come a point when you’ll want to say no. When you’ll feel like you have to say no. Because you’ve got to go. Because this can’t possibly be interesting to anyone. Because it feels irresponsible.
Maybe that’s all true. But you know what? Say yes. Even if it’s the thousandth time. In fact, say yes because it’s the thousandth time. Because that’s the time that counts.
You never know when you’ll get another time. None of us know how long we’ve got. None of us know how many more times we have. So say yes. Make this thousandth one count like it was the first.