Give Respect

Respect. It's a lesson I've been trying to teach my boys since they were little and decided to throw their first toy across a room, or tell me "no". However, for the first time I think it's starting to sink into their thick haired heads a little better these days. Recently we have had issues with a few little friends being less than kind to their own siblings and to Samuel and his sibling. He has started to realize that he is not being respected by these little friends when he doesn't want to take part in there less than nice games and is instead being bullied by them. This was brought to my attention Sunday and even though my 6 year old is being bullied, he recognizes that is not the way you "respect" people and has chosen all by himself to back off of these friendships - a proud moment for us as parents. I am not a huge fan of the "work it out" theory; I think that's only okay when you know there isn't violence, or disrespect going on. After all, how are our children supposed to know how to properly work things out if we don't teach them and guide them through this learning process? I don't want my children to think that "working things out" means being bullied, or bullying others and than not being able to say anything to us....so in certain circumstances it is good, but if I think there is a hint of violence or disrespect being thrown around, I want to guide my children through this and sometimes that means learning to respect people, property, or things. I have received slack for this in the past from friends and others and that's okay, but in this one Sunday afternoon, my child showed me that they were thankful for the guidance and his understanding of respect is sinking in even in this society were, in this blogger's opinion, appropriate respect even among children is fading fast. ~

Loving Affirmation

My parents did a fantastic job showing my sister and I how husband and wife are to love each other completely. It seems to me that I remember my mother always showing my dad his love by her acts of service to him: his dinner always made when he came home, his lunch made for him before he left in the morning, and always met him at the door with a kiss when he came home. It also seems to me that my dad respected my mother and made sure that we kids respected her as well. Now that I am a parent I am thankful for those affirmations I saw as a child and I pray that I am showing the same qualities to my children. My husband adores me. I know this by the simple way that he looks at me when I walk into a room, or by the touch of his hand across my shoulders, the small of my back; not to mention the small things he does for me that I even forgot I asked him to do and his response always is "I was just thinking of you". Hopefully my children are seeing their father love their mother with affection in the form of touch and respect as I did as a child. How my heart would sing if I see them loving their wife as I am loved as a wife; I pray we raise strong, dependable, yet soft and sensitive young men who will love their wife as Christ loved the church and who will love their families above all else. That's my prayer for the day, but enough about that; Cody is downstairs trying to get a fax through and he must be having a heck of a time because I hear the cover of the fax machine opening and closing and more than a 10 digit number being pushed, which can only mean that he's had to try sending the thing more than once. Maybe I should go show some of that respect and see if I can help him. Oh, and thank you mom and dad! ~

Little Baker

There is something about my man accomplishing mechanical work that drives me a little crazy; the smell of sweat and grease I guess. He looks so masculine in his dirty, oil stained clothes with grease and brake fluid all over his face and in his hair; I couldn't help but grab him and give him a big smooch; mmmmmmmm! In any case, I am happy to report that my husband finished repairing the struts on his car and now we are officially a two car family; two cars that run that is. To tell you the truth, I would have given up on that car probably two weeks ago, but now I have a new respect for my man who saw his work through (one of his greatest attributes, thank God). Samuel is at the dentist office as I type this with his daddy as Sam has two cavities that need filled and I couldn't go and watch them give him a shot in his gums. What happened to the 'happy gas' I got as a child? I know he'll more than likely be a champ and handle it perfectly even with his eyes open (he does well with all the shots at the doctor's office), but I didn't want my fear of anticipation to spoil him and Cody does better with these things anyway. Isaac is playing 'baker' as he is kneading a fake loaf of bread for the oven; why does he think he needs to play with real kitchen appliances? This is a daily struggle, "Can I put this in the oven, mommy?" "No. Kids don't play with ovens, Isaac." Then I go through the whole discussion that these are not toys and no kid I know plays with them....so find a cabinet to play in. EVERYDAY! I wouldn't be surprised if he starts making dinner for us by the time he's 12.~

New Gamer

Nothing like coming back from vacation with a monstrous mount of laundry to do; I think I've done four loads today. My machines have gotten more of a workout than I have in the last week and I'm just waiting for one of them to screech "I've had enough!" and than quit. Cody is outside trying his hardest to get the last strut off his car that he needs to replace; the neighbor across the street asked him if he'd ever seen the movie Money Pit and than laughed. While that wasn't the nicest thing to say, I know he was saying it in fun and it has now become the joke of the day; we may name the car 'Pit'. Samuel is upstairs in my room watching a movie for his down time and while he swears he's not tired, I'm sure he is catching up on his sleep seems how I told him he could come down at 4:00 p.m. and it's now 4:15 p.m. and there is no sign of him; guess I'd better go wake him up. He had a great morning playing with friends at their house where the water was overflowing with fun...so add that to the lack of sleep during vacation and I'm sure he's catching some z's. Isaac has become a little gamer on the computer lately and we just recently started letting him play by himself on the Dell. He has picked it up in no time and has even showed his brother a few new games; it's amazing how fast they learn this thing. ~

Completely Refreshed

We just got back from a wonderful fourth of July weekend up in the mountains; the Yampa Valley to be exact. There is nothing like the still silence you hear when you are out on a lake and tune the rest of the world out. I swear that I actually heard the act of my fingers grasping a dry twig and I could hear the small clang of my metal zipper clasp drumming against itself; it was brilliance! Pure silent enjoyment...you could actually hear yourself breathing in and out while the birds are chirping and the water is lapping softly. I feel rejuvenated and completely refreshed; I don't think I've felt this recharged in a long time; I allowed myself just to 'be' and I challenge you all do to the same for yourselves, preferably outdoors in nature if you can. Now back to the daily routine of things....my husband is outside working on his new/used car; putting new struts on the front. We are having a blast riding/driving around in the convertible and for our next family movie night we are planning a trip to a drive in movie theatre in our little Toyota we have lovingly named "Blacky". Samuel and Isaac are both outside playing in the backyard; while they had a blast on our trip they are excited to be home. Samuel's last t-ball practice for the season is tonight and his last game is Thursday night; I'm excited that we'll have two nights back, but sad for him that it's over. ~