Mom kept saying 'no' to her son, so he created a comic book with one detail that broke her heart
The boy's creative expression taught his mom a lesson or two about parenthood.
Once upon a time, there was a mom who never answered her kids’ questions and always said “no!” And every time she said no, her kids were very sad. But one day, when the “no mom” and her kids were driving, Emerald Warrior splashed out of the water and stopped the car. Then Emerald Warrior sprayed “yes spray” on “no mom.” Then, when her kids asked a question, she said “yes.” The kids exclaimed, “Hooray!” The narrative sounds straight out of a Pixar movie, but this was, in fact, from a comic book created by an exasperated kid to express the loneliness he feels when his mom says no. His mom, Stacy Goulding (@stacylyn_coaching) shared a flip-through of this handmade comic in an April 13 Instagram reel, and it's resonating with parents.
Goulding, a postpartum personal trainer and mom of three young boys, shared the video to help other moms realize “they’re not alone in the trenches of motherhood.” While panning the camera through the comics her 9-year-old son made, she stopped at one particular comic titled “Emerald Warrior versus no mom.” The comic depicted the pain and agitation he felt when he was dismissed by his mom. Every time one of her three kids asked a question, their mom stubbornly responded with a “no.”
"Emerald Warrior" is the main character of the series, and he defeats others by fighting to do the right thing. With the “no mom” character, the boy painted Goulding as the villain of his life. But as it turned out, the real reason was just a restaurant trip that she had denied because she couldn’t make time for it. “My son recently had a birthday, and our sweet neighbor gave him a restaurant gift card. He kept asking me to take him, but it was tricky to find time to take him out to eat with all of our other commitments. We had already spent two days celebrating his birthday with family and friends,” Goulding shared with Newsweek.
Goulding appreciated how her son was able to find a creative way of letting her know how he felt, but she will continue to say “no” to her kids when the situation calls for it. A 2022 research published in the MDPI journal documented 20 years of evidence on the "Game Program," a series of interventions through creative play in children aged between 6 and 12. Findings suggested that creative activities provide a protective space for the kids to process emotions and reduce behavioral issues, all the while promoting therapeutic, educational, and cognitive development.
Saying no, however, is something that Goulding will continue to do because she believes it actually prompts the children to discover their unique creative strategy for getting out their emotions, an exercise for self-discovery. “Our children need to hear no. We can't indulge in every request. I know I'm not a ‘no mom.’ I try to keep a balance of play, exploring, learning to work, growth, and resiliency,” she explained. Good parenting, she asserted, is not about being liked by the child 100 percent of the time. “It's about helping them develop in the ways they need, even if that temporarily makes you the villain.”
Thousands of viewers echoed with her valuable insights and jumped into the discussion to share their opinions and reflections. “This might be the best parenting advice on the internet! Tell your kids “no” more often so they have to learn how to entertain themselves, develop creativity and writing skills, and discover the power of persuasive rhetoric. I think you’ve solved parenting,” commented @play.as.you.go. @rosewood_08 said, “It's called vitamin NO, and it's really good for developing non-entitled productive members of society.”
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