Les Nouvelles

Okay, so my friend Google took me to a few websites with some Family Home Evening ideas for instilling kindness in these little monkeys  sweet children with whom we have been entrusted. (I've added a button on the side in case you're a cheater like I am!) This, in a nutshell, is what we did: We read some scriptures about kindness and then I set out 2 plastic dishes--one full of candy and one full of marbles and one jar for each of us. I asked him which he'd rather have fill his jar--candy or rocks? Of course he said candy. I asked which he'd want to fill MY jar with--luckily he said candy. Same with Daddy's jar and Aunt Lisa's jar. I explained that when I say something nice to him it's like I'm putting a piece of candy in his jar. If I say something rude or mean, it's like I'm putting a rock in his jar. We talked about some examples of things we say and whether or not they're rocks or candy. We also discussed tone--we could say a word that isn't mean, but if we say it with a mean voice, it BECOMES a mean word. Then I told him that this week we would pay attention to each other. When we hear someone say something nice, we should put a piece of candy in their jar. Likewise if they say something mean, we should put a rock in their jar. Then we busted out some art supplies and decorated labels for our individual jars. He LOVED it. Loved it! He has tried SO hard today to say kind words and has really been checking himself when he starts to say something rude. It's been awesome. In fact, today I was talking to Scott on the phone about Jack's Parent/Teacher conference which went very well and we were discussing how to reward him. I started speaking in French and Lisa asked Jack, "Don't you hate it when they speak in French?" Jack said, "No, and you'd better be careful or you're going to earn a rock in your jar." HA! I laughed so dang hard. He's so funny. So we'll see how long this lasts. Hopefully it'll stick and if this week goes well, we'll continue a little longer with the jar thing. I'll let you know!