Thought for the Day


"Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us - even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will. We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won't, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming."

- Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Punching Hearts and Tokens

Ok, so what do you do when your kids are rude and mean to each other?! Ideas would be great because that is what has been going on in our house! "Naw, not Steph's kids,: you think! But alas, tis true. Example:

Last night the kids were watching cartoons downstairs in my "craft" room (which is really only a "closethedoorsoyoudon'tseethelaundry" room or the "Bretjuststicksrandomjunkthere" room). ANYWHO... The kids were watching cartoons until dinner was ready and they fought about what to watch using rude voices and hollaring at each other to be quiet. I finally named a show they've all been wanting to see (yeah for DVR and new cartoons). And then they fought over who sits where.
Elizabeth - "I was sitting there first!"
Jake - "You got up!"
E - "So, I was just getting the remote control."
J - "SO, you GOT UP!"
E - "That doesn't matter, I was there FIRST!"
Mom - "Elizabeth and Jake, come here!"
waiting......
Mom - "I SAID come HERE!!"
waiting...... like if they are quiet, I'll forget that I called them - I'm not THAT old yet!
Mom - "NOW!!!"
They come in. Mom - "Ok, you two are done. Put your stuff away and come sit on the couch till dinner is done."
They go into the craft room, and mind you it is seriously 2 feet from where I am in the Kitchen.
E (talking softly, but not softly enough) - "Jake, you little snot."

Of course, I came even more unglued than I already was. I'm not glued together with super glue, ya know. More like Elmer's glue.
So then they got a lecture. ALL of them! And I hate to say it, but my whole goal was to make them cry. Sad, I know. Not crying cause I was screaming so much, but becasue they feel it in their hearts. So this is what I told them:

Mom - "If Jesus were here right now, would he like to hear how you treat each other?"
Kids - "No."
M - "No, cause he loves you all and doesn't want you talking to each other like that. Does Mommy like to hear how you treat each other?"
K - "No."
M - "No, cause I love you all and don't want you talking to each other like that. Do you like it when someone hits you?"
K - confused "No."
M - "Well, when you say mean things to each other and call each other names and use rude voices with each other, its like you are hitting each other IN THE HEART!!"
K - light bulb moment and starting to tear up
M - "Do you WANT to hurt each other - punch each other in the heart?"
K - tears streaming now. "No Mommy. We LOVE each other."
M - "Then be nice to each other and don't make our house a place with hurt hearts."

The "Tokens" part are these little hearts made out of card stock and the kids have to earn these "tokens" by being nice to each other. As they get tokens, they can "buy" special things. A trip to ice cream with Mom, ect. I implumented this last night. We"ll see if it works!

2 comments:

Amie said...

what a sweet little lecture and a great idea, Steph! I think you're doing just fine without any help!

When my kids fight, I put them in the corner together, hugging. Usually, it makes them behave for at least 5 minutes at a time. =)

Anonymous said...

Hi Steph,
I know I'm reading this a month later. But when Lane and Paige are being mean to each other (or to themselves) I make them tell the other one 5 great things about their sibling (or themselves). I just helps remind them why we love each other.
Just my thoughts. Love, Jen