John Stossel In The Classroom & More

I just got my copy of John Stossel in the Classroom & viewed it.  Good stuff.  He addresses the following topics and more:

Should everyone really vote?
Should farmers really get subsidies?
Is it really impossible to achieve the American Dream?
Who can make better more efficient roads, government or private companies?
Why do so many people want to be famous?

In addition to the DVD, his website has all kinds of resources including teacher guides and a video of the month that you can stream straight from your computer.

This is a great tool for parents, too.  Make sure your kids really understand capitalism, government, and their relationship to them both.

If you haven't got your copy yet, you can do so at his website, http://stosselintheclassroom.org/.

All Alone

I've been known to stay on the pot for quite a while. I'm not sure how God feels about it, but many of my best quiet times take place there. I'm an adult, though. I can get up whenever I want. Not so with my daughter.

Today after all my 11 little ones had gone home from school I left my classroom to go pick up my “real children”. One of Emily’s teachers met me in the hall and handed me Emily’s tote bag. I thanked her and said “Thanks for the bag but where is Emily?” She looked at me like I was crazy and said that the other teacher had dropped her off in my room. I went back to the room, no Emily. Her teacher checked her room, no Emily. We checked two more possible rooms and still, no Emily. By now there are 4 adults looking for her. About 5 minutes had passed and I was starting to get a little nervous and her teacher was frantic.

We finally looked in the bathroom of her classroom and there was Emily sitting on the potty. The substitute assistant had taken her to the bathroom about 15 minutes prior and got so busy with the other kids that she forgot about her. Emily was just waiting patiently for someone to come and help her. Her sweet teacher hugged her and started to cry a little while Emily was just smiling, as happy as ever.

She is just so sweet!

Picabo Street on Teaching Kids About Sports - Don't Quit!!!

The Winter Olympics are right around the corner.  Picabo Street will not be competing.  She is now a mother of 3 and will be at the Olympics as a commentator for NBC's Today Show.

Parenting.com has posts an interview that covers her thoughts on motherhood, breastfeeding, permanent birth control, and her kids competing in the Olympics.  But, it was her response to this question that I identified with most.

How do you talk to your kids about sports? What do you tell them is important?

I like to take everyday experiences to teach them things. Once Eli and I were playing Chutes and Ladders and he wanted to quit because he got the chute all the way to the bottom of the game. He said, "There's no use playing because I can't win." And I told him, "If you quit now, I'm never going to play with you ever." And he knew I was serious. Then he beat me. It was the humungous moment ever.

What a great response.

I play my 6-year old daughter in Wii and golf drives her crazy. She has trouble with her short game and putting, because she can't just haul off and whack it. She has to take practice swings and then hit it exactly right, and it frustrates the heck out of her to the point that she sometimes begins to whine and squirm around.

That's when I shut the game off and walk away. I used to try to calm her down, but it just got worse & worse. Now, she knows, if she's going to play she not going to be able to whine and cry when she doesn't do well. The fix is not to complain, but to practice harder and get better.

She beat me the other day for the first time, because she learned to not give up.

It's A Heart Issue

My wife & I had a conversation just last night about our daughter's obedience.  We wondered if she obeys because her heart compels her to or simply because she knows she needs to do what's right to stay out of trouble.  That brings up some questions in my mind.

1. How do I evaluate that?
2. What do I do once I think I know the answer to that - especially if it's the latter?

My initial thoughts are that it is out of fear that our children obey, at first.  But, then, through strong, healthy relationships with their parents they develop a genuine love which is what compels them to obedience.

Then my question becomes, how do we as parents develop those relationships & these answers came basically out of thin air, but seem right to me.

1. Prayer - Only the Holy Spirit can change hearts.
2. Conversations - Talking to them (not in the heat of the moment) about obedience being connected with love.  Jesus said that if we love him we will follow his commands.  It's that simple.
3. Live It Out - Be visibly obedient to God & talk to them about it.

I'm sure there are a lot of other ideas, but that's what popped in my head during my quick reflection on the topic.  And, as fate (not really) would have it, I came across some similar posts at Raising Olives.

• Do You Have Your Child’s Heart? Part 1
• Do You Have Your Child’s Heart? Part 2 
• Your Child’s Heart: What’s Your Responsibility? Part 1
• Your Child’s Heart: What’s Your Responsibility Part 2 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic of capturing your child's heart.

Good Leaders Admit When They're Wrong

From Leadership Unleashed...

A much-overlooked component of leadership is the willingness to be wrong.

Admitting we are wrong shows vulnerability and makes us more approachable. Other leaders and kids are less likely to be intimidated when we openly admit our mistakes.

Let's say you screw up, which is simply part of being human. When you admit it -- own it, and do so willingly (and not grudgingly), people see you are human, and, because they can identify with that, are more likely to allow themselves to be led by you.

There Is No Santa Claus. Now Go Tell All Your Friends.

Here it is folks.  The annual Santa is really just Satan spelled differently post.  I wouldn't go that far, but I do have some serious misgivings about Santa.  (WARNING - I'm feeling a little feisty this morning.)

We don't do Santa at my house.  Actually, that's not completely true.  We "pretend" there's a Santa Claus, but everyone knows it's just for fun.  We treat the Santa issue the same way we treat any other fun, imaginary character like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, or Jesus.  Hmmm.  That's my point.  I'm just not up to telling my kids something is true when it's not, because I can't help but wonder what they'll think about the other things I tell them are true, like Jesus.  I'd rather be honest.  Plus, I really believe at their ages, pretending there's a Santa Claus is just as much fun for them.  Their imaginations are crazy.

I've gotten my share of "You're a terrible parent," "You're robbing your kids of fun," comments over the years.  I've had people seriously get so angry with me about this - probably because when I say I don't want to lie to my kids, that implies that they want to (or do) lie to theirs.  Oh well.

Okay, so that's my 2 cents worth on Santa, but honestly I know there are different & valid opinions on it and I'm willing to not judge those of you who want to lie to your kids :) (That's the first time I've ever made a smiley face like that.  It literally took me 15 seconds to figure out how to do it, but I thought it was appropriate to put right after I pissed someone who doesn't have a sense of humor off.)

Contrary to the title, we don't let our kids tell other kids the truth.  We've had several conversations with them where we explain that some kids actually believe there's a fat guy who flies all over the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, that he stops at every single house, and goes down all the chimneys to give kids toys, and he does it all in one night.  We tell them they aren't allowed to tell those kids the truth if their parents don't want them to know the truth.  But it's okay to laugh at them in your head, just not out loud.

Don't get me started on the destructive nature of the naughty & nice part of the Santa story when it comes to influences that has on our view of God.

I came across some posts at Blog Worship on this topic recently if you're still interested in the discussion.  I'd love to hear what you think.  Don't worry I won't laugh out loud if you disagree with me.