Christ and Adam and Eve

Lately Christopher has been enthralled with 'Christ'. Let me tell you, it's quite funny. He carries his bible around ALL the time, and he talks about 'Christ' constantly. It cracks me up, because I have never called Jesus just plain 'Christ', but the boys do, and it has taken some getting used to.

So today Bam-Bam wanted to talk about Genesis, so I went through what I could of the whole book on the drive to get Tim from work. We talked about Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and then when we were done, Joey said, 'Do it again!' So I did.

We talked about how God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden because they sinned, and apparently that struck a chord with Bam-Bam. A few minutes ago as he was talking about Genesis with his Daddy, Tim started laughing, because Christopher was acting out what God did in the Garden.

I had said He kicked out Adam and Eve, and so Bam-Bam was showing his Daddy what God had done. :) Christopher is good at kicking, and if God had literally kicked them out of the garden like Bam-Bam understands, they would never have sat in comfort or joy, boy oh boy, they would never have sat in comfort or joy.

It totally cracked us up and it reminds me that children take all things literally.

Kids do NOT come this way

I read in a book once the line that goes something like this:

Kids behave this well because you pour hours of work into it.... and it can be undone in a matter of minutes.

That is so true. I've noticed a phenomenon since being in this stage of our parenthood journey:

People think kids come this way.

Example:

Bam-Bam says: "I play with that, please," instead of "I want that." He's looking at me as he says it, and I smile at him, because he did it right, and I mention to someone, "We've been working on saying 'please'."

What does she respond? "Oh. Well, he was doing it really well the other day."

Apparently this person doesn't realize that we have been working on that for weeks. Weeks, I tell you! And he wasn't doing it the other day. He's been getting corrected for weeks for demanding, "I want!"

He's saying "please" now, because we've been working on it.

Can I explain that to the therapist? No, not really. But I can tell you. He's only saying "please" because we've been working on it. Kids don't come saying "please". At least these didn't. Maybe yours were different.

Another example:

"Wow, these kids are sitting so quietly. You must enjoy that they already know how to do that."

Well, yes, I am enjoying it.... now. They didn't used to sit quietly. We worked on it. A lot.

And:

"Joey, can you tell your mommy what you did?? He wrote a J! I'm so surprised... I just showed him a few minutes ago, and then I looked back, and he'd done it himself, and he did it again four times!"

She doesn't know that I worked with him on that.

I don't want to sound prideful. I really don't. This feeling I'm having now makes me really sorry for all the times I know I did the exact same thing to Ivy over Will-- thinking I taught him something, when really she must have worked hours on it. I think the only thing I taught Will was bouncing. Yes, I know. She probably wished I hadn't. :)

I am enjoying every single minute of teaching our boys these things. And it does take constant work. I have to be on the ball every minute of every day.

Yesterday Joey got mad at Bam-Bam, and whined, and scattered the game he was playing all over with his hands. I was exhausted, but I still got up, went in there and made sure he didn't do that again any time soon.

These kids have to be taught everything. They don't know how to play nicely. They don't know how to say please. They don't know how to sit in church. They don't know how not to go up to a lady and look in her shirt. They don't know how get a drink of water without spilling it everywhere. They don't know how to hold a spoon. Well.... they do now. At least the spoon part.

They don't know that when you get them out of the bathtub they can't jump around like wild men. They don't understand that if you hop on one foot in the bath tub you are going to fall down.

They had to learn how they can't touch everything under the sun in the house. They had to learn how to say, "Yes, Mommy," instead of "KAY!!!!!!!"

I am not saying I want appreciation as a mother. Indeed no. I get my appreciation all day, and it comes in the form of seeing my sweet boys under our roof, at our table, in our arms, and in our hearts. It comes in hugging them, and in the deep seated satisfaction that God has given us a blessing after years of saying WAIT.

I am saying that I am determined to give other mothers more appreciation for what they do instead of assuming that their kid came that way, because boy, have they worked hard to accomplish that "Please".

Cause and Effect

Yesterday the boys were learning about cause and effect and about how it is necessary to listen to and remember what Daddy and Mommy say.

If Mommy tells me not to put my balloon in my mouth, and then I do it, and then she tells me again, and she also tells me that if I put it in my mouth she will take it away and pop it, and then if I go around the corner and put my balloon in my mouth anyway, Mommy will follow me and see me, and then she will pop my balloon.

**If Mommy tells me not to say: I'm MAD! (imagine a deep huffy football voice) and I do it, and she tells me again, and she also tells me that if I say it I won't be able to play in the hose with Joey, and I say it again anyway, she will hear me and I won't be able to play in the hose with Joey.

If Mommy tells me not to put my lips on the back glass where the dog germs are (Ugh! I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some iodine!) and I do it, and then she tells me again, and I do it anyway, I will have to come sit inside for a minute with Mommy while my brother plays without me.

If my Daddy calls me over to remind me of something I forgot, and I refuse to come, and he tells me to come again, and Mommy reminds me to obey with a happy attitude, and I come over with a mad look on my face, THEN I will be in trouble, when originally I just was supposed to come to Daddy and get reminded of something.

If Bam-Bam puts his monkey behind a piece of furniture, and Daddy says not to do it again, or he will not be able to play with his monkey for a while, and then I march over there and stick my phone behind the same piece of furniture, then I won't be able to play with my phone for a while.

The point of all of these things is not to surround our kids with rules. No. What we are doing is teaching our kids to listen and remember when we speak. This is crucial to their future walks with the Lord. They need to practice now how to listen and remember when someone in authority speaks so that they will know how to listen and respond to the Lord.

**We know it is established thought in the fostering community that it is ok for kids to be mad. If this is your viewpoint, then regarding us telling the boys not to say "I'm mad!", just pretend that we don't want them to use the word 'mad'. Pretend we prefer the word 'upset'. This is actually partly correct regarding the terminology.

A Double Dose of Skank

Talk about lewdness... what were these little girls' parents thinking?!?!?

I heard about this video this morning on The Mark Davis show. He was criticizing it for much the same reason I'm about to.

I almost cried watching these children, 2nd graders!, dance in such a fashion. What does this say about society... how even such little kids are taught they have to be sexy in order to get attention, and where such a dance is allowed in a competition for kids?

It makes you wonder what these kids are going to grow up to be.

Mark Davis was also discussing whether or not this kind of dancing is ok for cheerleaders to do during a basketball game. I was surprised that he believed it was not ok.

Oh for the days when the waltz was too risque. :)

Skanky

This video of Miley Cyrus' song "Can't Be Tamed" is one of the reasons why our children will never be allowed to watch Hannah Montana.

In Hannah Montana, Miley talks back to her dad, idolizes boys, struts her 'stuff' all over, always gets her way, hates her brother, is disrespectful to every adult unless she wants something, employs flattery, and is, in general, a disrespectful brat. Obviously her parents in real life let her get away with murder, dating so many different boys, getting lewd pictures taken, etc..

Without correction, that kind of behavior results in performances like the video above.

Tim and I are determined not to let our children see things that can influence them badly when they are at a tender age. Instead, we are going to fill their minds with good things. We do not agree with the philosophy that says they need to experience the world so they will be able to know that it's bad. That is balderdash. They are going to experience good so that they will know purity... then Lord willing, they will be convicted not to exchange 'the truth of God for a lie.'