in our home love is...

today didn't go as perfectly as i 
had dreamed it up to be.

in fact, rarely does any day end up going
just the way i plan for it to.

that's life sometimes.

the kids had been bickering back and forth. 
back and forth.
back and forth.
so much so, that i decided to send them 
all to bed around six thirty. 
we finished our nightly devotion together and then i made them high tail it up the steps.

as i was sitting down to enjoy the peace and quiet, i began to think to myself, "sending them to bed angry and arguing with one another didn't solve anything...

at least anything to do with their hearts.

it only gave me some silence."

i decided i should get up and at least attempt some kind of teaching moment with them.

i grabbed our art journals, markers, and put on some music my kids love 
(newsboys/that's how you change the world).

i called them all downstairs and told them what we were about to do.

*

for the next few minutes while the song was on, we were going to write down all the ways love is shown in our house. 
*

not all of them were jumping at the chance to do this activity...and honestly, neither was i. 
we pushed through it though and i could tell our hearts softened towards each other 
just a bit.

here is what they wrote:

in our home
love is...

afterwards, we each had to look at the person to our left and tell one thing we like about them. 

then everyone had to give each other 

a great big hug.

it was finally somewhat peaceful and 

calm as they headed back to bed.

i was able to relax knowing i had 

tried to do the right thing with them.

moms, every moment we have with our children can be a teaching moment...let's not waste that precious opportunity. 

*and just for a smile, here was my little sidekick completely exhausted and drifting off to sleep while i was writing this post.

* another idea*

on a long drive home, we like to 

play a game we call...

~i like when you~ 

i'll start by inserting someone's name 

and then finishing the sentence-

"carson, i like when you...help your sister"

i then go through and share something 

about each of my kids.

each child gets a turn to talk too.

it takes some time to finish, but well worth it because everyone's silent while we're playing. 

i'm sure that's because we all 

love a compliment!

try it this week, friends.