My little Siah is, well, growing? Learning? Maturing or something? I'm not sure what word to use. He's been saying the sweetest things lately. Tonight before dinner, on his own initiative, he got Reesie's highchair and pushed it to the big table, then he came back to me and said, "Mama, is there anything else that I can do to help you?" And being the sap mom that I am, I got a little teary-eyed and told him, "No thank you love... but I really appreciate your thoughtfulness." Then he said, "Ok, then I'll go sit in my chair and wait patiently for me's dinner."
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We've been talking about the word compassion this week. Sometimes the kids will accidently bonk each other or trip over each other, or step on my foot, or whatever, and then they just stand there at a loss of what to do. So I told them when those things happen they could say something like, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" And it's sinking in! Because today, Siah accidently stepped on Halee's hand and he stopped and proclaimed, "OH MY GOODNESS HAL! YOU'S OK?" Then he looked at me and said, "Mama, me's have some passion!" I am pretty sure he meant that he had compassion. :)
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Siah and Hal have been struggling with sneakiness and lying lately. A few days ago I let them get down from the lunch table and look for Siah's cup that they said he had left in the garage. A few minutes later Joey (who had been working in the garage) brought the kids back in and had them confess to me that instead of looking for Siah's cup they were in the garage whispering to each other and sneaking handfuls of pretzels into their pockets that they had found in the bottom of our stroller. They didn't know that their Papa was right there watching the whole thing.
Their Papa went back out to the garage and left our guilty children with me to be disciplined. This lying and sneakiness has been happening somewhat often so I was feeling frustrated and at a loss of what to say. So I made them sit at the table in silence for a good twenty minutes while I tried to figure out what on earth I was going to do about this problem. Finally an idea came to me.
I got a piece of paper and and drew a circle on it. I told them that the circle was a "circle of trust." When they are sneaky and when they choose not to speak the truth, It puts them outside the circle. But when they choose to tell Mama the truth and simply be open and honest about what they are wanting then they get to experience the safety of being inside the circle. I know they are young and I wasn't really sure if they understood what I was trying to tell them.
But the next morning Hal saw the paper with the picture of the circle on the table. She picked it up and brought it to me and said, "Mama, today I want to be inside the circle. I no sneak the pretzels today. Me's tell the truth."
It blessed my socks off to hear her say that. It's only been a few days, but neither of them have lied or been sneaky about anything since our conversation about the circle of trust. I feel so proud of them and so thankful that the Holy Spirit seems to be at work in their little hearts!
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And Reesie, well this morning... are you ready for this....
She stood up in the middle of the living room all about herself, and then took her first THREE STEPS!!!! It was sooooo cool! Then at Bible study this morning, she took like twenty steps down the hall!! It was awesome!
But the funny thing is that she only wants to walk on her own time. She walked so much at Bible study, then when I tried to have her show her Papa this afternoon, she wouldn't even stand up. Another strong willed, independent little girl! What great qualities to have! I can't wait to see her use those qualities to the glory of God!
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So that's the latest! Blessing upon blessing! I'm loving these treasures!
