Bedtime at our house is more than a specific hour of the day.
 

• book reading
• prayer praying
• song singing
• hug giving
• back scratching
• cheek kissing
• “I love you” saying

Those “I love you’s” follow me out of the room.  It sounds like an old episode of the Waltons as the eight-year-old calls out to her dad, then loud whispers ensue as our girls bid each other good night.

And as welcome as the quiet is when the noise dies down, I know that some day, silence is all that will be left.

So I’ll call back just one more time….

I love you, and good night.

Grandparents who pass along a Godly heritage to their grandchildren are a priceless blessing.  Our daughters have grandparents who cover them in prayer, share spiritual wisdom, and invest in their lives in any way possible.

 
Next week, our daughters will be spending several days by themselves with my parents.  The excitement level at our house is very high right now! 

The things that our children look forward to at their grandparents’ house are simple, yet special, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

• Individual time with Grandmama which involves a trip to the library, a free cookie from the grocery store bakery and a stop at the dollar store
• Made-up stories from Granddaddy about a “floppy-eared mule”
• Shelves of old children’s books in an upstairs bedroom with comfy seating
• Small rag dolls with their own wardrobe for clothes and accessories
• A special treat under their pillow on the first and last nights of their stay
• Grandmama reading bedtime stories
• Pizza for lunch on Fridays
• Window shopping in a toy store and riding a kiddie train at an upscale mall
• Taking pictures and recording video on old cell phones that Grandmama saved for them
• Attending Granddaddy’s and Grandmama’s church and riding the bus home afterwards

As parents, we love people who love our children.  When they’re related to you as well?  How sweet it is!

Are your children able to spend time with their grandparents?  Are there certain things they enjoy doing together?

Have the actions of one of your children ever put you to shame?

One day last week we were leaving the house to take a meal to a friend who’d recently had surgery.  We were planning to stop at the grocery store on the way, and my eight-year-old asked  if she could bring some money with her.  Wondering what candy or other treat she was planning on purchasing, I asked why.  Her response?  She wanted to buy flowers for the lady. 

I must admit that the first words that came to mind were, “Is that really how you want to spend your money?”  Thankfully, I paused long enough to instead ask calmly, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

When she responded positively, I told her to bring her money along.

She chose a bouquet of red roses (making good use of her money by choosing ones that were were on sale) and delivered them herself along with a handmade card. 

I hope that her thoughtful and generous nature reminds me to think less of myself and more of others.  While meeting a person’s needs by supplying necessities, may I also take the time to think of the little “extras” that might brighten some one’s day.

Summer is nearly upon us!  As I’ve done for the past two years, I created a summer learning program for our daughters.  This gives a sense of structure to our days and allows our children to study topics they’re interested in.

A couple of weeks ago, we decided what subjects they wanted to include and I assigned each one to a particular week.  Once we begin, we typically visit the library every Monday and check out books related to our theme.  I try to incorporate an activity and an outing each week as well.

We chose Washington, D.C., as one of our themes as we are planning to travel there in the fall.  (I realize that a baseball game is not necessarily associated with Washington, D.C,  but since that theme will fall during the week of July 4th, we always attend a minor league ball game around the holiday.)

There are more than six weeks in our summer, but with a vacation in the mountains, Vacation Bible School, one of the girls attending basketball camp, and a trip to visit family in Virginia, that’s about the number of weeks we’ll have for our program.

Week 1 Theme – Authors
Books:  Biographies of famous authors
Activity: Have each child make her own book, including a brief story and illustrations.
Outing: Visit bookstore.
Bible Memory Verse: Joshua 1:8

Week 2 Theme – Washington, D.C.
Books:  Read about history of the city as well as popular sights and monuments.
Activity:  Have each child write a list of five must-see attractions.
Outing: Baseball game
Bible Memory Verse:  I Timothy 2:1-2

Week 3 Theme – Planets
Books:  Outer space, planets
Activity:  Make model of solar system.
Outing:  Nighttime stargazing
Bible Memory Verse: Psalm 8:3-4

Week 4 Theme – Europe

Bible Memory Verse:  II Timothy 2:3-4

Week 6 Theme – Horses
Books:  Horse breeds, training and riding horses
Activity:  Choose a famous horse from the past to study.
Outing:  Horse-drawn carriage ride downtown
Bible Memory Verse:  James 3:3-5

The following will also be included in our daily learning time:

• piano practice
• complete a page from a critical thinking skills workbook
• English and/or Math review worksheet (Both girls have some leftover workbook pages from the school year.  Once those are gone, I will print appropriate grade-level worksheets from online resources.)
• typing practice  (I plan to use freetypinggame.net.  It seemed to work pretty well last summer.)
• foreign language practice (I still need to see if our library has anything we could use in this area.)

Click on the links to see my summer learning program for 2010 and summer learning program for 2009.

In case you wondered….yes, we still have plenty of time for fun during the summer!  We typically spend an hour to an hour and a half on this, leaving plenty of time for swimming, bike rides, board games and playing outside. 

Do you have any outings or other activities planned for summer?

Teaching our children to discern between good and evil is a mission we parents undertake from early childhood onward.  In Isaiah, we find this verse that gives some insight into instructing our children in this vital concept.

Isaiah 7:15 says, “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”

How do we teach our children to “refuse the evil and choose the good?” Is it by showing them what is wrong and helping them learn to stay away from it? No, quite the contrary. It is by exposing them to all that is right and wholesome so that they will be drawn to those attributes.  Just as with the honey, we want them to develop a taste for the good things, that they might then recognize and reject the bad.

Will there be times when we need to warn our children about the evil that may be inherent in specific situations? Certainly. But the majority of our time should be spent surrounding them with positive experiences that will shape their perception of right and wrong and then instill in them the strength of character to follow that which is good.

A fair amount of my time these days is spent sitting and waiting.