Relatively speaking, our home has been a pretty happy place the last couple days, and I attribute that largely to 2 main things (aside from God's ever-present grace):
1.) A new behavioral system chart
2.) A teacher work-day today
The behavior around here had been slipping big-time -- to the point where Pete and I were getting quite desperate for some new ideas for how to get the obedience back. So after some brainstorming and consultation with other parents, we created a new behavioral point system (strangely reminiscent of the system we had to use when we were houseparents for court-ordered teen-age boys in Pennsylvania... ) We implemented it yesterday by posting it on the fridge, and the kids have been very receptive. Very receptive. I know this is likely to only last a short time until it too falls along the wayside, but for now I'm enjoying all of the pleasant attitudes and eagerness to help around here, as they try to "move up a space" on the chart. Strider was following me around all day yesterday asking me if I wanted more water or if he could get me some candy. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
And then I decided that we needed to take a "teacher work-day," a.k.a. vacation day from school so I could tend to some of the suffocating clutter around here. The first step was to make it all seem like Strider's idea. So a couple days ago I casually mentioned that Veteran's Day was Tuesday. He asked how people celebrate it and when I mentioned, among other things, that sometimes schools give that day off, he started jumping up and down asking if WE could have that day off. Step 1 accomplished, and I looked like such a giving, compromising mom.
So today we spent the whole morning shoveling out all kinds of toys and junk from our living room, and the kids' bedrooms. And even though "school" was not in session, I personally learned a couple key points: that removing 50+ pounds of toys and games from this house would not cause anyone to miss them, and that the approximately 50 pencils I had bought a couple months ago to start the school year had NOT all magically disappeared as we had been thinking. They were actually just in every single place they did not belong -- almost literally.
And now that I am pondering this, I think I might add a third reason for why this household has had a recent up-tick in happiness... Today after a work tutoring session I had, I stopped by a couple of stores to do about 45 minutes of browsing. It was the first time I had been in any store besides Super Wal-Mart in a couple months, so it was a delightful treat for me. I was in awe of all the bright shiny things, and thoroughly enjoyed walking the aisles with no one talking to me for a little while. I came home in a very pleasant mood. And as we all know, when Mommy is happy, the rest of the family is happy, too.
So today we spent the whole morning shoveling out all kinds of toys and junk from our living room, and the kids' bedrooms. And even though "school" was not in session, I personally learned a couple key points: that removing 50+ pounds of toys and games from this house would not cause anyone to miss them, and that the approximately 50 pencils I had bought a couple months ago to start the school year had NOT all magically disappeared as we had been thinking. They were actually just in every single place they did not belong -- almost literally.
And now that I am pondering this, I think I might add a third reason for why this household has had a recent up-tick in happiness... Today after a work tutoring session I had, I stopped by a couple of stores to do about 45 minutes of browsing. It was the first time I had been in any store besides Super Wal-Mart in a couple months, so it was a delightful treat for me. I was in awe of all the bright shiny things, and thoroughly enjoyed walking the aisles with no one talking to me for a little while. I came home in a very pleasant mood. And as we all know, when Mommy is happy, the rest of the family is happy, too.
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