"Mom, how does the Tooth Fairy fly through the air?"
"How do YOU think?"
"I think moms do it."
"Ah."
"But how can a Mom be a Tooth Fairy?"
"Good moms are lots of things, Princess."
"OH."

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Clearly, I've Done Something Right

and it's not often I can say that, so I think I'll say it again. Just to make myself feel good:

Clearly, I've done something right.

I find that major transitions, such as school beginning or ending, are excellent times to sneak stuff into the routine that you know the kids aren't going to be super crazy about. They're usually reeling from change and so bleary-eyed from either too little or too much sleep that they don't realize what you've done until it's too late.

This summer it was, "hey, guess what! Your new job is picking up and vacuuming the dining room/ living room/ family room/ kitchen!"
Them: "uh um uh um. Ok....."

Our typical pre-school routine in the past has been: 1. clothing and hygiene, 2. breakfast, 3. more hygiene, 4. play scream and jump on each other's heads, 5. listen to mom blow a gasket over getting our shoes on and tied.

This time, I decided to remove "play Scream and Jump on Each Other's Heads," and replace it with "Read Bible Quietly to Self."

This was not well-recieved.

Mainly by Buddy, who is very dedicated to his before-school hobby of covering the sofa in cornflake crumbs and watching PBS shows that he'd rather no one knew he liked. So I wasn't particularly surprised to hear the dulcet tones of his crabbing. I handed him a Bible below his reading level.

Fifteen minutes later I had to drag him out the door carrying his shoes.
After school I had to shut it on his hands to get him to get his cleats on for soccer.
Then he disappeared with it for several hours after dinner.

I tucked him in bed and reminded him lights-off was at 9:30.
At 9:31 he came tearing downstairs.

MOM! CAN I READ JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER? CAN I? JOSEPH IS ABOUT TO MEET HIS BROTHER AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS!!!

Um. Ok. But then you CLOSE that Bible, Mister! One more chapter, and that's IT! No more God's Word for you tonight, do you hear me?

Um. So yeah.

6 comments:

  1. Ha Ha Ha!! You are most definitely doing something right! Cute story.

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  2. OH!! SO COOL!! What a great way to encourage Bible reading! Congratulations! And look, he asked permission! to keep reading! Love it!

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  3. Oh, Kerrie, I am laughing out loud! Thank you for sharing this. God's Word is a door to adventure (among other things). Hooray!

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  4. LOL! Great job there!

    I do the same thing with big transitions. I figure, she's gonna blow anyway, may as well get it all over with at once. More efficient that changing things once a week for long term blowouts.

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  5. Where did you find bibles that are written at specific reading levels? My son is 14 but reads at a fourth grade reading level due to Dyslexia, PTSD, RAD, etc. Would love to find one that he can understand so he can connect to it.

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  6. @beemommy- The Bible I gave Buddy is the Day By Day Kid's Bible by Karen Henly. The age level listed on back is 7-10. Buddy reads at about a 6th-grade level, so this is probably right at 3rd to 4th grade. His Kid's Church Bible is the Adventure Bible for Young Readers. It's also classified at 6-10, but I think it's a much more challenging read than the Day By Day. Hope that helps!

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