Jennifer Garner on the Power of Saying Yes

Hey, everybody. Jen Hatmaker here, your host of the For the Love Podcast. Welcome to the show.

Coming in super hot with a bonus episode today and literally couldn’t be more excited for you to be here, because I have wanted to talk to this person since the literal first episode on For the Love, as we were making our dream boards and “who do we want to meet and who do we want to host and who do we want to have?” From day one, this girl was on our list. I’ve loved her for years. And you have too of course, we all have. The whole world has. 

But first, I want to ask you a question, because this is what we’re talking about. If you had a day where the answer to every question was yes, there were no limits on what you could do, what would you do if you knew that you were going to get a yes?

As an adult, I don’t know how that makes you feel, maybe that makes you feel excited, maybe you have a little mini panic because we tend to like our safe places and routines and things that we can predict. But when you were a kid, I bet you didn’t feel that way. I don’t know if you can think back to how amazing it felt every time you heard the word yes when you weren’t sure you were going to get it right. It was like magic, probably because the majority of us heard the word no so much more. No, no, no, no. You can’t eat that. No, you can’t do that. No, you can’t have that. No, you can’t stay up that late. It was just so many nos.

And then, of course, we all were like, I’m not going to be that kind of parent when I’m a parent, I’m going to say yes and my kids are going to get to have fun and I am never going to be a no parent. And then we become parents and we wake up one day and realize, oh, yes, that’s me. I am my mother, I am also a no parent. 

I’m not going to launch into a philosophical discussion here in the intro about parenting and boundaries and all the things, but I will say this: sometimes it feels good to parent with the word yes, right? It feels good to help our kids embrace the power of the word yes to see what’s possible, to throw open the doors to silliness and things that are absurd or generally off limits. 

By the way, I mentioned this to her, I did. We have done this with our kids. Whenever one of our kids turns 13, we have taken them on a surprise trip somewhere. They don’t know when and they don’t know where. And we called them “yes trips.” Whatever is within reason and it’s safe on those trips. The answer is yes. Yes, we will. Yes, we can order french fries from room service at 11:30pm. Sure. Yes, yes. You can get your nose pierced. Yes, you can get your eyebrows done. I mean it’s just all yes. It’s so special. It’s so memorable. I mean it’s something my kids will be talking about their entire life, and that is where my next guest comes in. 

My guest today is, of course, Jen Garner, who we all know, we all love, we all adore. And she has a brand new movie on Netflix that she’s produced and stars in, and it’s called Yes Day. Same concept. It’s so much fun. It takes this idea of saying yes and like runs it all the way to the end zone. 

So high level, Yes Day about a couple named Alison and Carlos who feel like they are always saying no to their three kids. So they give them a yes day. And so for twenty four hours, the kids make the rules. And of course, all the adventure and mayhem and stuff that you think would happen does. But it brings this family closer than ever. 

It is a comfort watch. It is a fun watch. It is a family watch. And honestly, I’m here for it. Everything else is hard. Can something be fun and delightful, please? That is what Yes Day is. And I watched it with my family two days ago and we just giggled and giggled and giggled. We kept looking at each other like that, “that’s what you would ask for. That’s what you would say. That’s how you would do it.” It was just hilarious.

So. I’ll tell you what is the perfect thing to watch with your kids on spring break, and it may help you take a little step toward planning your own yes day during spring break. Isn’t that a fun little task? Let’s see what happens. 

You guys, she’s as darling as you think. She’s delightful. She’s funny. She was exactly, exactly what I thought she was going to be like – precious.

So I’m happy to bring the absolutely one and only Jennifer Garner to the show. 

Books & Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Yes Day – Movie on Netflix

Yes Day – Book by Amy Krause Rosenthal

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Thanks for listening to the For the Love Podcast!

XO – Team Jen