FHE

I thought I'd share a few tidbits from my lesson yesterday for FHE (family home evening). If you don't know what FHE is, then may I entroduce with you to what we members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints call Family Home Evening. Typically held on Monday evening, our church members are encouraged to set aside family time. My family studies the scriptures, principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, sing hymns, play games, give service, etc. and usually eat a treat. My husband and I have faithfully reserved Monday night for this purpose for years. It is such a special time for our family. I would encourage anyone to adamantly reserve a designated time to spend together, building your relationships and your testimony of Jesus Christ.   That said...

So I talked to our kids about their potential for greatness, and we sang the song "I Am a Child of God."  Then we talked about how small choices greatly affect outcomes. Changing course of a railroad train or air plane starts very small but has a drastic outcome in destination. Or how slight movement on a gate hinge enables a large gate to move a great radius.
This lead into discussion of what can effect us in our lives to change God or bad. Example, where we "hang out," friends, music, literature, tv, movies,  language, etc. and showed a picture of a "Mormon ad".

We read Alma 37:35 .  

We talked about company slogans, movie quotes and tag lines that we know. We absorb info without really realizing.  

Then we read in the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 15:27 "And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water."

We then discussed good things that we could fill our minds with instead of filth of the world. As a guide, I used the January 2016 issue of The Ensign magazine article. "Our Homes, Our Families

Our Best Defense against Pornography

By Kerry Hanson Jensen"

I showed a copy of the For the Strengthening of Youth pamphlet and reviewed/explained it's purpose. 

 https://www.lds.org/youth/for-the-strength-of-youth?cid=YS-M-youthstrength&lang=eng

I told a story about the prophet Gordon B. Hinkley. How his family used a wood stove to cook and heat their home. In the spring, his family would spring clean the soot stained walls. They used a cleaner that looked like pink bread dough to rub the walls clean. 

I let my kids play with pink play dough and clean up bits of dough with a larger piece. We likened this to repentance. If we have tainted our thoughts with filth, and even sinned by actions, we can repent and be made clean. 

So my goal is to work harder to study scriptures, learn with my children and teach wholesome knowledge to safeguard against the filth of the world. 

 

Amazing Kid's Chore System

My house would be chaos and a mess if I didn't have help cleaning and tidying up after my kids. Who better to help me?  The mess makers themselves. We have a chore system at our house that is an adaptation of my mother-in-law's system from my hubbies childhood. We call it 'job sticks' though it's more of job slips (of paper).   The idea is that I have slips of papers with 5 minute chores written on them. Each day I hang on a board enough various chores for each child to accomplish three. For instance, I have 6 kids doing chores, so I hang up 18 job sticks. Each child chooses one at a time, and must pass off their chore before choosing the next. The chores are done quickly and correctly, so that the 'favorite' chores can be grabbed first!  The dawdlers are left with the undesirables.

Make a job board: 

Simply nail small finishing nails into a 1/2" thick piece of wood or cork board.  Write the child's name, with a nail below.  This is where your child will hang their job slip while working on it.  After it's passed off, they will hang the next job slip on top of the first on their nail.  

Hang the job board in a central location.

Tools needed to make your job slips:

Paper cutter, card stock (3x5 cards are easy to use), hole punch, pen or marker.

Store your job slips in a cup, or as I do, in a baseball card protector.  

I have a collection of jobs to choose from when I'm placing them on the job board before I go to bed at night (or first thing in the morning).

I use different color of card stock for different rooms, or type of tasks.  It's easier for me to keep them organized to choose from.

You can draw pictures for non-readers.

I choose jobs that take about 5 minutes each.  

Jobs for younger children could take less time, but should be simple 1-2 step tasks.  You can place jobs for younger children and older children to choose from out at the same time by distinguishing the slips of papers apart by colors, adding stickers, etc.  

THIS SYSTEM WORKS!  

Our family has been doing it for years.  We have shared it with friends and it works for them too!

It can work for you!

The key is FOLLOW THROUGH on the PARENT'S part.  You need to be around to pass off the chores.  At first you are training your kids, so it may feel like it takes more time than doing it yourself!  BE PATIENT.  You  may need to offer incentives or negative consequences to keep on track.  Our first year doing this, the jobs were required to be done before school.  The consequence if not done in time, was to have to do extra job slips after school.  Once the expectations are understood and consistently followed through, usually there are no consequences.

My older kids are even willing to help set out the job slips if I'm not on the ball!  

**A quick start for this job system, is to make a list of the chores needed done on a dry erase board.  Your kids can write their name next to the job they are doing.  You can erase the completed task or check it off when you pass it off.  Sometimes I'll do this system for the day when we are leaving for a camping trip and I need help packing more than clean baseboards!

***Remember, the beauty of this system is the competition between siblings to get to choose their favorite or perceived easiest jobs first!  That is why they can only choose one job at a time, and not get a second until the first is passed off, and so on.  

3p Deletion Syndrome

When my youngest was an infant, he was diagnosed with 3p.25 Deletion Syndrome. It is very rare, and took many months to diagnose. After he was born, his health declined continually. He was near death for months, and doctors had no answers. After stays at Primary Children's Medical Center, hundreds of tests, treatments, and procedures, a geneticist found the answer. We have never met or talked with a patient or doctor who has treated a patient with 3p deletion syndrome. We have read a little on the internet about a few children who have it. After a NJ tube and later G-tube placement and oxygen 24-7 for over a year, he has improved very much. He is almost 4 now, and took his first steps last month. We are so excited for him. He has spent countless hours with many physical therapist to get this achievement. He also works with a speech therapist (he still doesn't talk), occupational therapist, vision therapist (he has CVI- cortical visual impairment) and other special needs children specialists.   We have worked very hard to train his esophagus to swallow without aspirating. He gets water and some nutrients through his G-tube, but will now eat soft foods from a spoon. He has many food aversions, so we are continually working on textures and some day he will eat firm solid foods and maybe even pick up a cheerio and eat it!  He is still small, wearing 24 month clothes. He gets to ride the bus to his school and walks around with his little granny walker. It's quite adorable. We love him!

Why add and delete?

Why add and delete?  That kind of explains my life.  My blog is going to be about my life. And it has a lot to do with my kids. I have 4 biological children and then ADDED three adopted children. My youngest son has a rare genetic condition called 3p deletion syndrome. In this blog, I want to share my life experiences of foster care, adoption, parenting a large family of young children, and talk about the journey of my son's health. Now let us begin!