Category Archives: Parenting Bahahah! Y’all. I meant the title to say and a Ho, ho, ho. You know it made you laugh;). Or just really curious about this post. I realized I left out some KEY photographs that MUST be entered in my blog2print book! When you see how we dress up our kids for the Thanksgiving table. […]  Breathing. That’s what I’m doing today. In and out. And thankful. Since I wrote last–we’ve been on a roller coaster. And I’m just thankful to be on the other side. God is good. And even if it had taken another turn–he is still good. Deep sigh. I believe it. Harder to type with a mommy […] I am so proud of your little girl! She is a hero and a hero should have any American Girl Doll she wants!! Praying for you all… Laura in Tx So scary! I’m thankful he’s feeling better. What an amazing big sister! I’m a Dietitian. Studies show uncooked cornstarch administered at bedtime mimics the body’s nocturnal glucose utilization. (1-1.5 grams/kg) administered at bedtime, and every 6 hours during illness, prevents morning hypoglycemia and ketosis. Also, Pediasure Sidekicks nutrition drink for kids have less carbohydrates but enough protein to help out at night. He is going to need to eat at least every 4 hrs during the day. Probably would help to let him go to bed & then wake him for a high protein snack with carbohydrates when you go to bed. High protein snacks, fiber from veggies & fruit will help. Liquid sugar like juice will cause his sugar to spike & then plummet so it will be healthier for him to have fresh fruit. Juice will help bring his sugar up quickly during hypoglycemic episodes. Your local children’s hospital can set you up for a session with a pediatric dietitian for help with counting carbs. Praying that he will grow out of it (some kids do after age 5) unless it is an underlying pituitary hormone deficiency. Good news is that hormone therapy works. Praying for healing for you all! Don’t fret…this too shall pass! Today. My 4 year old–wait…newly 5 year old Frank walked around the chair moving his little fingers back and forth. Peaking over my shoulder, he saw a little boy who was Zeke’s age–in an orphanage in China. Momma. Is that Zeke? No baby. It’s not. It’s a little boy in China we can pray for. […] Isn’t childlike faith wonderful to see??!!?? That’s so sweet to our babes six is nothing really! Our little girl is three and her heart is as big as mountains and so is her faith! Matthew 18:4 Mark 10:14-15 We can learn A LOT from our kids!! Hugs and prayers!! In Jesus Love,  I will never forget the first time it happened. We sat at the dinner table–and I could tell something was really off. It was a face of shame–not regret…not remorse…not repentance. Just shame. He was four. Oh to be able to go back to that sweet little season! (Thankful I still have 3 more still […] I can see how this would “work” with some children, in some situations, but it certainly must never be embarrassing for them. How sad that your son had to have this happen to him. I read your blog from afar often, but this is the first one that has prompted me to comment. Yes, yes, yes! I work with older children, high schoolers, and college students and the same is true as we grow! Of course there need to be consequences for actions, but our goal should never be simply behavior modification. I’m always looking to see what is the actual issue of the heart and how we can address that instead of the behavior. Thank you SO much for writing this. I have a first grader, who has this exact system in his class. I will never ask him again what color his was on that day. I can’t thank you enough. He was on yellow for the first time this week and was so ashamed. Now I know what to say to him if this ever happens again, and what to ask him after school each day. I love your blog! We just started the adoption process for a love in China. Can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have GOT it, girlfriend! I LOVE this post! Did you read my mind? I am jumping up and down…thank you! I feel so affirmed by this post – I am going to share it with some friends who need to hear this today! How wonderful you and and how great this blog is! LOVE! Have a great weekend! Wow. I too read your blog from afar and have never commented. My oldest child (now 16) spent the first 6-8 weeks of 1st grade “flipping his card” (similar to the stoplight). Each day I would ask — did you flip your card? Yes. Why? I don’t remember. Finally, I had a conference with the teacher. The minor infraction was not using the proper check-in system when he arrived at school (yes, she flipped his card over and over again even though he wasn’t changing behavior). Guess what? I simply reminded him every morning from then on to remember to check in. . . and he never flipped the card again. My daughter is a “rule-follower” and pleaser. When a teacher flips her card for a minor infraction, she carries it with her for weeks. To this day, she can tell you which teacher flipped her card and why. She lived in fear of ever flipping the card even though I told her I just didn’t care if she flipped her card because I knew she was doing her best to be kind and to follow instructions as best she could. I knew this system didn’t feel right, but now I know why. And, it’s a two way street. . . I needed to not be focused on the minor infraction but rather on my child’s heart. this is so well written! its so evident that this isn’t just how you parent but who you! its your heart! ever since i found your blog, years ago, i’ve always admired how you show your children love, how you teach them and how you’re silly with them too…children need that from their parents! you’re such an incredible woman of God and i want to thank you for all that you’ve taught me! Very timely and interesting post. I am in student teaching currently and see a lot of this stuff going on. I could go on and on and on about how harshly I see our sweet students treated. It truly breaks my heart. Not with all teacher, but certainly in the classroom I am in. But I also saw this in my daughter’s kindergarten class two years ago. She had a wonderful teacher and a wonderful experience BUT she is naturally a really good kid that wants to please and be obedient. So, I never had a problem with it! It is nice to see it from this perspective and I will definitely think twice before implementing this in my future classroom. Thanks! 🙂 Oh you touched on something that resonates strongly inside me as a mommy. My now 8 year old struggled with behavior in school starting in Kindergarten. if you knew her, you’d know that she was never purposefully misbehaving. We are know in the process of having her evaluated for possible disorders but I can tell you that she is a GOOD kid with a great heart. Repeated yellows did nothing but damage her self esteem and make me question myself as a parent. I became obsessed over what color she was instead of focusing on what good she did that day. Second grade didn’t have a color chart and I loved it. Third grade does again, however her teacher explained that a child rarely gets moved off of green that it’s there more as a motivator that a punative measure. I am so thankful for having read this post – it reinforced what my husband and I have been saying about our kindergartner. He has been working SO hard at school to stay on green – and then coming home and behaving like this child we have never met before. So many talks about looking at our hearts and seeing the root for the fruit of our lives and how the inside condition matters more than the outside performance. Thanks for sharing. Hi! I’ve read your blog for a long time and enjoy your writing so much. Thank you for sharing your family and your adoption stories with us. On this blog post I whole heartedly agree with your thoughts on parenting and I often appreciate your reminders to care for our children’s hearts first. However I do not think it is inappropriate that our schools have systems for behavioral consequences (at the elementary level and above, I’ve never heard of this in a preschool). If my first grader disrespects his teacher or breaks a rule, I like that there is a ‘wordly’ consequence. I do want to help walk through the repentance with him at a heart level. But I think it is important for children to learn that their actions have consequences- for as a grown up they will be accountable to following the laws of our country. I want my child to understand that while his reunion with the Lord is of most importance, he will still face fines or jail time for breaking the law. Mary! I’m in COMPLETE agreement with you sister!! This blog post is about PRESCHOOL…our sweet loves are TOO young to understand the consequences and just focus on the color. OF COURSE there needs to be other consequences for elementary, middle and high school kiddos–but this post is about preschool:). SPEAKING OF–JUST yesterday my Isaac was upset b/c he has stayed on GREEN all year! He said he doesn’t like not getting to move his name like the other children. He wants a turn on yellow and red TOO. My oldest son told him he could tell him some tricks to get on yellow or red;). Oh no! Not quite what they were going for I think. BUT it just shows you that it’s so much better to focus the heart than systems for preschoolers b/c their little brains will only focus on the systems. And obviously for some–they might be motivated in the wrong ways. I had to tell the teacher that Isaac is itching to get to move his to yellow or red–so could they consider moving it one day for a small reason even if it doesn’t merit it by their standards so he doesn’t try to get there on his own;) I am a preschool teacher and I could not agree more with you! In my classroom, we use red, yellow and green faces. Green-happy Red-sad etc. BUT my students use it each morning to evaluate how they are feeling. They are in control. At the top, it says “how are you feeling?” Breaks my heart that your little one was so upset. Thanks for sharing…as a teacher this was great to read.  We have two 3 year-olds, a 1st grader and a 2nd grader. I homeschool–so finding time to get it all done around the house is near to impossible…without HELP. I need my little ones to be aware when they pull things out–that they need to put them up…and really there is no better way to […] That’s a really cute idea! I don’t think there is anything wrong with rewarding children for working hard..I could see it as a problem if they don’t listen to you, and have discipline problems, but that’s another can of worms! My little one is 2 1/2 and I’ve been wondering of a fun way to help encourage her with chores. Although I think she really does a lot for her age! She helps me load the dryer, pour in the soap for the washing machine, is learning how to fold clothes, cleans the part of the counter she can reach, helps make beds. No she isn’t perfect at it, but it is very sweet to see her try and help me! I think I may start a reward system for her, and see how it goes. I also think it helps them learn to give to others, and tithe! She loves giving to the offering plate at church so I’m sure it would mean a lot to her to put her own money in there! I was just going to send you an email the other day to see if you had a way of handling chores….funny…like you read my mind. We have struggled perpetually with chores at the Moody house…tried different ways and the bottom line is that I always run out of energy to keep up with it. This is really cute…and seems pretty easy…think we might give something similar a go. You are one smart and creative mama! Totally unrelated to this adorable post… I linked to you on my blog today (link below). You’re under #4 of 12 Reasons Christians Should Blog, as, (you’ll get a kick out of this,) “the trendy mom in Atlanta willing to do the not-so-cool through homeschooling, simply because she thinks God called her to.” 🙂 We’re doing part-time homeschool for 4k, and you’re part of the encouragement causing us to consider kindergarden. Blessings! |
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by admin
Zeke is looking like such a big boy and not so much like a baby! What a fun Thanksgiving. The pictures are great!
First time to comment! I loved all the photos, we are starting our adoption journey in 2014, so I am always looking for others who have been there done that! You have a beautiful family! What a blessing 🙂