Parental Bragging

Once again, you've been warned :) Some people don't like to hear parents brag about their kids, but seeing as this is my blog, my children and I'm a proud Momma, look out!

Our kids have been sleeping in and business has been slow for Al so we've been a bit relaxed on our morning wake-up time the past week or two. We've actually slept in as late as 8:00am this week. This morning was one of those slow, sleepy mornings. Isabel got in bed with us at 6:00am and with it still being dark and the window was open as it rained outside, I was able to convince her to go back to sleep for awhile. Around 7:20am Connor came into our room to announce the tooth fairy had visited with him and left some money. Then he left the bedroom.

I was in and out of a light sleep for the next 15 minutes or so when I heard the clanking of dishes in the kitchen. Jane was not home so I knew Grandma wasn't making breakfast and Grampy had already left for work...so who was making the noise? I listened for a few minutes trying to dicipher whether food was being made or dishes were being pulled from the cabinets. Then it hit me...the kids are doing their chores! Part of our morning routine before school is everyone has a chore and we rotate them each week. This week Lillee had dishes and I figured she was clearing out the dishwasher as she's a really responsible kid. I woke Al, shared my theory on what was going on and then snuck to the door to peek into the kitchen for clarification.

There I saw Connor removing dishes from the dishwasher. He would put a bowl on the counter, then hoist himself onto the counter, open the cabinet while ducking his head under it and then put the bowl away.
He did this over an over until he had the entire dishwasher empty and everything was in it's proper place.

I called Al from bed and we stood at the bedroom door, peeking through a crack like two kids trying to get a glimpse of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The spell was broken when Lillee came through the kitchen and headed straight for us, we knew we'd not be able to watch any more. Connor cheerily told Lillee good morning and explained that he was doing her chore for her and he wanted to do everyone's chore this morning!

I don't think Al and I could have been more proud. Connor took it upon himself to do something really nice for other people without hoping for a reward in return. Maybe we should all wake up with money under our pillows, it seems to have started Connor's day with a desire of serving others.

Now I have to switch gears and do a quick Isabel brag. Isabel is 2.5 years old and participates in our morning school exercises which include:

Prayer
Pledge of Allegiance
Articles of Faith (we learn a new one each week or two)
Monthly Family Goal
Weekly Quote & Scripture
Weekly Primary Song (we're working on learning the songs for the Primary Program at church)
Presidents of the Church
Presidents of the United States (we focus on one president per month, learning interesting facts and history)

Then we start into work books, experiments, etc. By this point Isabel has lost interest or she grabs a coloring book and colors while we do handwriting or math. At 2.5 I did not expect her to sit for so long through our daily opening exercises but she does. Not only does she sit through them, she's learning! She can lead us in the pledge of allegiance with very few promptings...she knows the entire pledge! She also has memorized the first four articles of faith. Last night when we were giving out dots, Al decided to do a little drill to see who knew information about the presidents we're studying this month (Brigham Young and George Washington). Isabel was able to identify George Washington by picture and when asked who Brigham Young was she smiled and very matter-of-factly said, "Prophet."

I know home schooling is not for everyone and there were times over the past couple of years that I thought I couldn't do it myself, but when I see how well my children are learning things that are important to our family, I know we've made the right decision. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the kids! I've been a member of our church for 5 years (5 years tomorrow, actually) and I've not memorized the articles of faith, yet. Connor knows 8 of the 13, already. I think home schooling is going to be as beneficial to me as it is for our children but it's going to be a lot of work for me to keep ahead just enough to be able to teach them :)