A new year is here

So, ya, it's been four months since my last post. Who's counting though, right? ;-) Sigh...

It has been a crazy four months. I literally could write a book. I won't. Hahaha...Sigh...

I'm sighing a lot lately....

Let's see. We now have a 17 year old son. We are officially in our senior year with that 17 year old. Which means I am officially feeling nostalgic. When did he grow up? When did he become taller than me? Why did time go by so fast? If there was ever a way for me to stop time it would be right now.

We also have TWO teenagers in the house at the SAME time! What were we thinking? Oh ya, we weren't. No, it isn't that bad. Really. I'm being serious. Stop laughing! I sort of like them only being four years apart. They are close enough in age to be friends, but also far enough a part in age that they also do their own things.

Then there is the girl. She is officially four. Serious to goodness. That happened WAY too fast. Sigh...

There's me sighing again....

I do not make new year resolutions. It's too....what's the word....responsible...no, restictive. Ya, it's too restictive for me. Instead, I make a to-do list. And mind you, I make it easy enough to ACTUALLY do them. I have a few things that are a little out of reach but hey, I don't want to get too....restrictive.

One of my things to do for 2013 is to start teaching my daughter how to act like a lady. On purpose. It is a serious epidemic in our world for girls to be lazy, have no confidence, to have no manners, to have no pride in themselves. I could go on and on. It's a shame. Too many girls seek approval from their peers and not from God. Too many hate themselves because they compare themselves to the string bean on the magazine. Music. Ugh. Today's music for our girls, shoot...for anyone really, is so demeaning. Seriously, my eyes have been opened. Flashed WIDE open.

I will not stand on the side and allow my carefree, sweet, caring, funny, gorgeous girl to be knocked down by trying to conform to what the newest fad  is or to the newest Jersey Shore wanna-be. Nope. I will...excuse me...with God's help WE will not allow this perfect gift from God to be anything less than what God created her for.

Now, if you're curious about my boys. Trust me. They are confident. Um. One might say we have OVER done the job on their confidence. LOL...seriously. I need to work on the humble part with them. But that's just it...balance. We all need a healthy balance. This is my goal for all of my kids in 2013. Adam and I have started that balance as of tonight, actually. We've always had rules in our home. They have reinforced..or maybe reintroduced I should say, tonight with an idea I got off of Pinterest. I found a mom who wrote a iPhone contract for her 13 year old son. We changed it to fit our boys, but you get the idea here. Our rules are pretty simple:

1. Honor your mother and father the first time & at all times. No arguing allowed. Ephesians 6:2

2. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. This includes music and movies, or anything you’re viewing online. Eph. 4:29

3. Be respectful in speech, actions, and attitude to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17

4. Treat the people in your family better than you would anyone outside your family. Luke 6:31

 

Number four might turn a brow ...however, my kids have this amazing love for people outside of our home. They will bend over backwards for a stranger and then come home and treat each other as if they have a disease. I have actually had people comment to me about how respectful, kind, loving and how my kids manners are the best they have ever witnessed and then we walk in to our home and a brawl breaks out. What gives? So, Adam and I felt we needed to instill a love of family in them. So, what better way to instill a value than to make it a rule and force it on them, right? LOL....

 

Back to me raising a confident girl.

 

Here is the way I will be intentional with my girl.

 

1. We will read our bible everyday. This is a GREAT one. It's a devotional bible. Adam and Kaitlyn were in a bookstore reading through books and came across this book. Without her knowing we purchased the bible for her birthday. When she opened it she squealed, "Daddy!!! It's the bible we read!!!" A winner in her eyes already.

 

2. She is already involved in sports. She cheers in the fall and does gymnastics year round. This spring/summer I am going to sign her up for softball. Both of the sports (cheer and gymnastics) are already pretty girly (no offense if you're reading this and your boy is a gymnast. But Kait is in an all girl group and they all tend to be super girly. I'm sure as she gets older it won't be this way.) However, I think softball will help toughen her up just enough to be strong physically & help with different coordination.

 

3. I have been doing school with Kait since she was about two. She is very smart. I want her to be a life long learner. I will be more intentional with my lesson plans. I'm also going to widen the topics. Instead of it being a typical preschool curricula I will add things like anatomy and how our bodies work, our country and the different countries/cultures, more science experiments...what kids doesn't love to blow things up? I found an amazing resource...yes, on Pinterest. It's called Kiwi Crate. Kait LOVED the first box we recieved. So did I!!

 

4. I will teach her manners. I will teach her to set a table. I will teach her that when others laugh at someone, it's cruel. I will teach her loving new vocabulary words to help her express positive thoughts. I will teach her that beauty isn't about what you look like, but what your heart looks like. I will also teach her that in order to give God our best, we should look our best. I will teach her that when she orders her food at a restuarant to be polite and kind to the server. I will let her pay with my debit card so she understands things cost money. We will pray together everyday.

 

5. I am giong to start giving her a small allowance. She needs to learn that sometimes we do things as a family service and sometimes we do things to earn money. Things are not just given to us.

 

These are my top five. I will add to it as I discover more on how to raise her into the confident lady God created her to be.

 

Now, how to teach my boys to be humble...

 

That will be another post...

 

Hopefully it won't take another four months of life to go by to share my plan with you.

Until next time,
Reb