Mommy Matters

So we had THE WORST family home evening tonight. Ever. I thought since our kids really don't have very good manners so much that manners would be a good focus. We started off with an exercise that was supposed to show them how important manners are! We had a messy meal. I served spaghetti and meatballs and salad and chocolate mousse and strawberries - without any utensils. David and Cadie and Corey all freaked out and refused to eat without a fork/spoon. Libby and I were a bit more adventurous and tried our best. Libby loved it so much she wished we could eat like that all the time. She also managed to get spaghetti sauce in her hair all over her face and on her clothes. I used a handout a friend had given me, which suggested roleplaying these scenarios and using a manner o meter to judge whether they are polite or not. So we paired up - Corey libby and cadie on a team and david and I on another. Corey's team went first. They pretended that Corey wasn't looking where he was going and walked right into the girls by accident. They then told him to get out of their way and even pretended to kick him and he pretended to fall over. Then they role played the same scenario only the polite version with an excuse me and an I'm sorry instead of a kick and a fall over. Afterwards our sensitive Cadie had an entire melt down. She said she felt so bad inside when she was roleplaying the bad version of the scenario that she burst into tears and ran off and hid under a chair crying for a good few minutes. After we coaxed her out and explained what that bad feeling was and calmed her down we carried on. It was David's turn to roleplay. We got the scenario where two friends want to play with the same toy. We tried acting it out where I had it first and he asked me if he could have it and in the bad version I say no and pretend to push him away. Only I accidentally made contact! Not hard but enough that he fell over! Cadie saw and absolutely lost it! Her freaking out got David freaking out and they were both screaming and crying like the world was going to end! We never fully calmed her down. For the rest of the night she was crying and shuddering off and on! Our laser tag FHE a few weeks ago was so much more fun!

So a few months ago our garage door got driven through by what we are assuming was a drunk driver in the middle of the night. Smashed through the door into both of our parked vehicles. We slept through it all :) Good thing it woke the neighbours! Cops never did find the guy. We have spent most of our free time and finances on figuring out stuff with insurance and buying new vehicles.

Funny stuff the kids have said recently:
Cadie: "mom, you look like an inflated whoopie cushion!" (I was puffing at Libby being Libby)

Cadie: "Ouch! My hot sliver hurts!" (blister)

Cadie: "Mom, please please please can we read some books? They are FRESH from the library?"

I was fasting specifically for Libby one sunday - what I could do to teach her and help her - when she brings her ten dollars - her only ten dollars that she got for her birthday/baptism and which she really wanted to spend on doll house furniture or a build a bear, and gave it all as a fast offering. I was so touched! It is usually me that needs help and my perspective that needs changing, not my sweet kids!

David: I had the bestest dream last night that I was eight and I got to be baptized and I was such a lucky ducky!"

David: "Who body did that?"

Playing a game in the basement with the lights off:
Cadie: "I'm a little bit scared!"
David: "I'm ALL the way scared!"

Libby: (to a friend) "This is my favourite song. It's my mom's favourite song, too. We are relatives you know.

Dad: "We need a hint!"
Cadie: (curled up in a ball, playing battle in a bucket) "I'm what you want when you are going to buy a house!" (money)

David: "Floppy fish, I love you!" (directed to the piece of plastic that is hanging off our van door and blows around in the wind)

David is going to miss cadie so much when she's in grade 1 and he's in Kindergarten! They play so nicely together on the days that they are both home!