Family Builder Journal month 7

Family builder Journal Month 7

Classics

I am pleased with our progress with Family reading. We are listening to lots of audio books in the car and my kids are asking for books to be read to them all the time! Their desire is there, now I just need to be consistent to our schedule and give them even more of my time to read out loud to them.   If too much time passes between chapters we lose interest. We battle with interruptions from the younger kids and I feel like everyone is trying to read books that are way above their reading level. Having the books available has been an issue too. I try to get them from the library but we can never keep them as long as we need them. I love the book list that is written at the end of this session. I also have a list of some of our favorites in the classics section of our master inspire plan although I’m having a hard time to figure out when each book is age appropriate.  I would like to just own our list and sort them on the shelves so that they are there when the kids want them. I like the idea of giving a seller a list and then buying a few every month. One of my three objectives was reading more classics and we have definitely improved since we started the Family builder. I love the conversations that the classics inspire in our home!

Devotional

Devotional is something that we have also been doing pretty consistently. We have memorized lots of things but more than anything we have felt the spirit. This is what is most important to me about this hour. I would like to take more opportunity to bear personal testimony to my children so they know how real it is for me. We have had lots of important discussions during this time and I want my children to be able to recollect on devotional and be able to recognize the spirit then when they feel it.

Mentor Dates and Planners

I have always loved planners and so this has been an easy thing to pass on to my oldest (10 year old). He loves to make lists and has chosen to use my husband’s old  iphone as his planner. We have been having more Dates than mentoring so far but we are getting closer. For almost a year now I have taken one of our 5 children with me shopping once a week for a one on one date. So each child gets one about once a month.  These dates are also meant for me to be able to get my shopping done and I’m realizing that my older son who is starting to make lists is going to need me to sit down with him and help him to break down his lists and help him to set goals not something easily done while shopping.

Parenting a House United by Nickoleen Peck

I have been reading Nickoleen pecks book this month and I love some of the agenda questions she uses on her Mentor date planning sheet.  I think I will update ours to include some of these things. I also like the idea of having Sunday be meeting day at our house. My husband and I already meet this day and I think if we added our family meeting and mentor meetings with at least the older two we would have a really good idea of what the week is going to look like. Our challenge will be to get it all in, in one day especially if there are family get-togethers or Church meetings.

As for the rest of the book I’m so inspired I’m having a hard time to remember the 1% principle.  I want to implement it all now!  She as articulated so many of the issues we have in our home that I have not even had the words to describe. I have realized that I have not yet mastered the 4 basic skills that she talks about in her book. She explains that understanding these skills are what create happy relationships. They are…1) Following Instructions  2) Accepting No and Criticism 3) Accepting Consequence 4) Disagree Appropriately.

My inability to disagree appropriately is what keeps putting me back in the box with my spouse and sometimes my children. Getting out of the box is one of my objectives that I don’t feel like I have as much progress on.  I really feel like I have found another mentor to help me where I need it.

I had the opportunity to talk with Nickoleen and the TJed Forum last month and I think we will start coaching with her when I’m done with the Family builder.

We have been having some consistency issues as parents and it is manifest in the children’s behavior, especially the younger children.  This book taught me a lot about the importance of communication, pre-teaching and vision. I have read MANY parenting books but most of them focus only on the psychology of it all. What they lack is vision and the importance of having one for the family. I see opportunity for vision in everything  now and I try to share it as much as I can. Vision for Christmas in 20 years, vision for our education, vision for the family business, vision for the trip to the store, vision for how bed time will go. The power of intention is huge!! Vision allows us to create our own reality and helps our children to be proactive about their choices. I just have to step back and let them learn from there consequences!