Give, Save, Spend

It is pretty cool when your children get to an age where they start to "get it." Whatever you have been working so hard to teach them will eventually click. I just wasn't sure when that would start to happen. We are finally seeing that Mya is making a connection with our teachings. We work very hard to link the kids' behaviors with their hearts. We try to take it back to a heart level and see what is going on there. And of course that leads us to teaching bible verses or lessons that correspond with current challenges. One of the big things with Mya lately is teaching her how to treat others. We direct her often to the bible verse that talks about treating others the way you want to be treated. So today, at rest time, I told the girls they could watch a movie. If or when they start to argue over something, which they did over choosing the movie, I take the item of dispute away and have them sit on the couch side by side. I have them take some moments of silence until they are ready to go back to the item and talk about it with a good attitude. Of course, the final resolution involves one of them putting the other first. This is a great lesson to learn. So today I went through the motions over the movie dispute and finally Sara said she would put Mya first. However, this has been happening often and Mya typically gets her own way. So I intervened and told them that maybe they could find another solution. I waited them out a few minutes and watched Mya carefully look through the movies...unsure of what she was thinking. Finally she broke the silence and said out loud to herself, "Treat others the way I want to be treated....that means I should probably put Sara first today. I would want her to do that for me so that would be a good choice." Really??? I just love it when they "get it" on their own. It was a proud moment. Also, last week Mya had a mini meltdown in the store because I wouldn't buy her a toy. She just HAD to have a mini Tinkerbell doll. So Dan and I decided it was time for her to start earning money so she can save for what she wants to buy. I set up a job chart for her and she saves her money for the week. Then on Sunday she tithes her 10%. It was pretty cool to see her give an offering today all by herself. And she has taken such ownership of doing her jobs everyday. She is sure to remind me that we need to pay her at the end of the day for her give, save, and spend jar. This parenting thing can be pretty fun!