Yesterday was another MOPS meeting. I took Isabel's friend Morgan again and left Luke with his friend Aden. They got to go dressed up in their Halloween costumes. For the moms, we had a speaker, Jennifer Laughrun, fellow MOPS mom and wife of one of the pastors at the Hope Baptist Church that we meet at. I thought her talk was WONDERFUL. Here are the notes I took...
THREE MUST HAVES FOR FAMILIES
1. FAMILY IDENTITY Let your children know they are identified with a family. They will be more secure, safe, healthy, and as teenagers they will want to be at home more.
-Use phrases such as... "Our family doesn't..." "Our family always..." "Because we're a family."
-Develop unique traditions
-Tell stories in your family of how mom and dad met, what so and so did as a baby, etc.
-Develop an awareness of God's purpose for our family by praying together as a family. GOD IS THE CREATOR AND MAINTAINER OF OUR FAMILY.
2. FAMILY UNITY being part of a team
-Use phrases such as... "Let's work together and get this done." "Because you're part of a family." "We're better together." "I could not have done it without you."
-Step back and let them do it.
-They need to know what their responsibilities are.
3. FAMILY FUN
-Set up your home to be ready to play.
-Let go of trying to keep your house perfectly clean!!!
- Play games with your kids that you played as a kid.
-Board games are a lost art.
This morning we went to the library. Luke read comic books the whole time, Isabel did puzzles quietly while Sylvia jumped on the beanbags, pulled books off the shelf, ran as far away from me as possible and during each one of these activities she was constantly yelling and screaming with joy. Every time I pick up my order it feels like Christmas. We got some fairy tale books for Isabel and I to read together, Hatchet and some Stinky Cheese Man book for Luke, more Bill Nye the Science Guy DVDs and the movie Bridge to Terabithia.
After the library we had our art class in the school room at the clubhouse. Kollen was in charge of the activity and did a wonderful job. Edible playdough for the little kids, and making pictures with glue and colored rice for the older children. We let them play on the playground afterward and then home for lunch.
This afternoon while Sylvia slept, Luke and Isabel listened to a few Halloween books on tape. We then watched Bridge to Terabithia. On one of our road trips a month or so ago we had listened to the book in the car. The movie was almost exactly like the book. That's usually pretty rare. I was bawling! It was so sad, happy, touching. I wanted to sob out loud, but choked it back not wanting to alarm my kids. hahaha.
Just a note. When I write about what we do for school each day, I mostly blog about things that we've planned or that are very concrete. You have no idea how many things we do each day that can be considered learning that I don't write down. Just yesterday alone, in the evening I taught Luke how to use a knife and he chopped up a green bell pepper (chef skills!) Isabel made bracelets for her girl cousins (craft and friendship skills!) Isabel and I sang songs together while I played the guitar (American Idol skills!) Luke went with his dad to put sprinklers in a friend's yard (landscaping and service skills!) okay, so Luke mostly talked about Pokemon with some other boy there, but at least he saw his dad as an example.
