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 want to say no. When you 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’ll never know when you’ll get another time. Think about that last fun day that FDR had with his boys before polio struck. Think of the last day that Kobe Bryant had with his girls—that one that he protected by saying no to the things that didn’t matter so he could yes to the little things that mattered to Gigi or Natalia or Bianka, or even little baby Capri, who was only six months old when Kobe and Gigi died. 

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.