You is Smart, Pretty, & Important - Fun Fridays

    This weekend your fun assignment is to fill your child with super great thoughts about themselves by speaking encouraging words to them. Your child's mind is a storage box into which people and events are putting ideas about who they are and what they will become. How impressionable and very easily convinced they are. They are listening when we say things like, "They are better at spelling than they are at math." or, "They can't get along with their brother." Ask yourself, "What have I been making my kid think about themselves lately?" Unfortunately, I have to admit that one of my daughters probably thinks she is a "whiny-pants", because that is what I told her (even though I know it is "not nice to call names".)
      Words of encouragement do not have to be deep or profound. It could be as simple as, "Your mama loves you" or, "I'm so proud of you."  Direct them to what you want them to become. For example, "You are learning to love Jesus more and more" or, "You are so very kind," or "I am so glad that you seem to be enjoying school more lately." To be inspired, watch the kind nanny in the movie "The Help" who continually reassures the little girl who is neglected by her mother with the words, "You is smart. You is pretty. You is important." Wouldn't you like it if someone told you that?
      Tell me about ways you encourage your kids, or ways you like to be encouraged.

TEA Time - Teaching Tuesdays

       Girls love tea parties! Boys enjoy them as well if they are accompanied by yummy snacks.  Take advantage of your kids love of snacks and of spending time with you. Plan a simple tea time to teach a short lesson about the importance of thoughts. As an added bonus you even get to teach about three letters - TEA.  T stands for thinking.  Thinking comes first, because it affects everything else. Your thoughts lead to E for Emotions. For example, if you continually think about or focus on all the bad things in your life, you will feel sad. The last letter A stands for actions.  The way that you feel will then make you want to act certain ways. For example, If you feel sad, you may want to cry, withdraw, take a nap, etc.. Thoughts > Emotions > Actions. They are all intermingled.
        For fun, you can label three sugar packets T,E, and A and add part of each packet to your tea to help you explain this concept to your kids. For older kids, you can substitute the "T" sugar packet with salt to show how your thoughts can affect everything else.
         What thoughts, emotions, or actions have you or your kids been struggling with? I would love to see pictures of your tea party. Check in tomorrow to see how to take control of your TEA.

You are What you Think - Mom Mondays

       Have you seen the commercials where the mom says, "You are what you eat," while the soccer ball goes right through the hole in the doughnut shaped kid? Well, Proverbs 23:7 tells us, "For as he thinks within himself, so he is," or in other words, "You are what you think."  Our society is extremely conscious about what types of food they put into their bodies, but they tend to be lax on what types of
things we think about or put into our minds.  Think about why it would be important to guard what goes into your mind and the impact your thoughts could have on the rest of your life.
       What kind of thoughts are you having on this Monday? You have a choice to focus on all the things you are dreading this week, or you could think about all the blessings in your life and the things you are looking forward to. For some reason, I am thinking I would really like a doughnut. What could this type of thinking lead to?

       "We are not what we think we are, but WHAT WE THINK -WE ARE! Our heart secrets are the mold for our character and the index of our worth." - Keswick Calendar