Creative Discipline

We have a very cute and cunning nearly 3-year-old blonde girl in our family. She is the youngest. The word princess is bantied about to describe her. She reigns over her little kingdom with great glee, and she sometimes seems oblivious to the fact that Mom and Dad still rule.

Last week during family devotions one night, she would not stop getting in and out of her chair. When I spoke firmly to her, she cried–waled is really more accurate. So I removed her from the dining room table where the rest of the family was finishing up devotions and placed her on a chair in the kitchen. I told her to stay there until she could stop her wild lamenting and come to the dining room and apologize for disobeying.

I returned to the dining room where I proceeded to lead the family in singing her favorite Christian song that she requests every night at devotions. I was singing with great gusto, and the older children were following suit and laughing a bit because they saw Mark and me exchanging grins. They weren’t sure what was funny, but it seemed fun to go along with the joke, whatever it was.

After we finished singing, a very remorseful little blonde-headed child appeared near my chair. She said, “I sorry, Mommy.” And, of course, I forgave her. I know there are those out there who would disagree with my choice of discipline in this situation, but this was truly the first time she had been independently remorseful, without a lot of talking and explaining of why she should apologize and change her behavior.

One would think that the 4th child would be easier, what, with 10 years of childrearing experience under our belts. But each child presents new challenges. I felt a small victory inside me. And, I never enjoyed singing that song more than I did that night. 🙂

This n That

It’s 6:47 pm, and I need to head out the door to choir practice, but I wanted to post a short entry.

First, if you have time, drop by my sister-in-law’s blog and wish her a happy birthday today. I haven’t managed to get even a card in the mail, but I am praying that she’s having a good time on her special day. (She hasn’t mentioned her birthday in any post, but you can just put it in the comments on some other post.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about relaxation and what that means. Mark and I both work out of our house–in addition to raising our 4 kids here. We seldom go anywhere unless we have to run and errand or take the kids somewhere they need to go. Our idea of relaxing is watching a movie or tv show we want to see. Lately, I have been thinking that we need to schedule time away from the house just to do something we want to do–either individually or together. I think that being at home is great. And, we really love our new house. But I also think there is something to be said for going elsewhere to sort of clear our heads. I think my own productivity on projects for work is hindered when I am rattling around in the same 4 walls so much. With summer coming, I know I’ll be out more with the kids, but I really want to make an effort to get out on my own more and relax in another environment.

Where do you go when you want to relax or get away but you’re not going on vacation?

Therapeutic Benefits from a Red Living Room

living room red wall fireplace.jpg
Last week Mark and I painted our living room red. This photo does not really show the effect very well. However, I am thrilled with the results. I walk in the room every morning and I just admire the sunlight shining through the windows on the rich red walls. The actual process of painting the walls took longer than we planned and gently stretched our matrimonial bond, but we have both just walked in the living room at different times over the past week and have said, “I really love this room.” Who knew painting a room could raise one’s spirits so!