Well, this is the way of it. We have an incredibly productive week, and next an incredibly unproductive week. We are beginning construction to our attic and our air conditioning/heating system had to be moved, requiring us to pack up and move in with my parents for a few days. All of you creative mommies out there will be proud that I took the time on Sunday night to plan/cut out/individually pack up all of our tot school projects for the week, and neatly organize them into a handy tote.
Did we open up that bag the entire time we were there?
Nope.
Good intentions and all.
Our main (well, really only) project of the week involved making valentine's for Grayson's class and teachers. He sweetly glued some heart doilies on construction paper and we wrote a message to Miss Jamie and Miss Kelley, and afterwards he added his signature scribble.
As we were filling his classmates' goody bags, I saw some potential for learning, so Gray was responsible for filling 8 bags with 2 chocolate hearts, 1 eraser, and 10 candy conversation hearts...he surprised me! He would fill one bag at the time (I wondered how my particular little boy would handle this challenge--by filling all hearts,etc. first or filling each bag) and made a "completed" pile. I have a feeling he might out-organize me by far when he's all grown up. :)
He earned a "Special Helper" ribbon (badge, as he calls it) for helping fill the bags, and was so very proud of this award. I am a huge fan of this positive feedback; I have a tendency to focus on the negative when parenting and while I want to train him and correct him, I want to praise his good efforts and most importantly, reveal God to him. I feel like my instruction is only part of the process, hence our ribbons. (I've picked these up at the dollar store) This just works for us--he loves to impress and to be recognized for a job well done, after all, who doesn't? I take it down (off the refridgerator) each morning and it only goes up when he does something helpful or kind without my asking him to do it. He loves this game and so do I! I'm on the look for other "awards" to give him for sweet-spirited behavior.
Well, that's about it. We may have slacked a bit this week, but I'm trying to make up for it. I've already got our trays and crafts lined up and ready for him in the morning. Maybe we'll stay on track. Maybe.
6 comments:
How great that he is so organized! :)
I bet his teachers loved the Valentines he made them. What a great idea to encourage his helpfulness with a ribbon. I hope that you like your new heating system!
The cards you made for the teachers are so very sweet, they would have loved them.
Grayson must have been so proud of himself for helping out so much and doing such a great job with the bags for his classmates.
What a cute valentine for his teachers! That's great that he could help put the bag together!
What an excellent helper you have!
What a sense of accomplishment he must have had when all of the bags were finished!
Ooh, that is my kind of kid - so organized!! :) I love the cute valentines and the idea of the "badge" too. Sounds like you are doing a great job - you are right about it being easy to focus on more negative things... I need to work a bit on that myself! Thanks for a great post!
Post a Comment