Friday, May 23, 2008

SHOUT OUT--A GREAT WAY TO RIDE

We had our first PEACEMAKING COUNCIL today in an effort to help the kids get along for the long summer break. (This idea was inspired by a Smart Mama blog post.) We only talked about one thing--being positive. I'm really glad the kids were in the mood to participate at this meeting because Jordan helped us remember that negative is the opposite of positive and its really cold if its a negative temperature. We went with that theme and talked about saying warm things to each other and having warm actions like hugging, high fives, pats on the back etc. We hopped in the car and I had a flash of inspiration to do a few "shout outs." "Lets give a shout out for Alex for doing his reading lesson today." The kids really got into the "hoorays" and came up with some of their own shout outs including, "lets give a shout out for mom for being a good mom today." (Yes being a good mom is a little unusual for me.) All the kids got at least one shout out and we (for once in this entire month) had a car ride without any fighting. You know, I get easily distracted and sometimes live as if the kids are holding me back. I say things like, "I'll help you just as soon as . . ." and "maybe we'll do that later." My best days though are the ones when I'm focusing first on helping them grow and learn good things. In the long run it will be these 4 little people that will be my greatest reward and not my endless list of great projects.

9 comments:

smart mama said...

great post! we need some shout outs around gere- glad to see the p family peace train has left the station

Casey said...

Shout out to Jamie, the only person I know who blogs ever day, now that's an acomplishment, i'll be visiting here more often.

Trueman twins said...

I love the shout out idea! We'll have to try that especially in the car. I don't know if it is the close proximity or what!? That seems to be the place where the most fighting goes on!
It is nice to have those days where you really feel like you have your priorities in order. Those are GREAT MOM days!

katie said...

Good for you Jamie! It makes life so nice when you can say kind things to those around you, and they can do it back. It's so easy to get along with everyone that way.

nanci said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nanci said...

Yay! Yay! for Jamie and all the family!

I love it when children point out the obvious (negative = cold temperatures).

Keep up the great work.

Tami said...

Brilliant! I can't wait to try your idea. Anything to help, right?

Swimmingmom said...

That was such a nice post Jamie. I got a little teary eyed there remembering what's really important. Sometimes the everyday things can be so overwhelming when we let them be. Thanks for the reminder. Love the shout outs! Shout out for Jamie too!

leigh said...

I think I will try this next time we're in the car, or maybe at dinner