I'm adding this picture today trying to WILL in some cooler weather. Nothing else seems to work! We've had a busy few weeks around here and I feel like I've been beaten with a stick! I am oh so thankful that we made the decision to forego dance and gymnastics this fall. Adjusting to a new school hasn't been easy and we've needed that extra time together in the evenings. Overall the girls are wonderfully happy at EBA now and we've started to get into a groove that works for us. Ali is busy with cheerleading and Addie is just happy to have her Friday sno-cones. She LOVES her teacher and especially enjoys reenacting her daily devotionals in the afternoons. It warms my heart to hear them.
Recently, I had the opportunity to actually sit down and watch TV with the girls. We've been swamped and we haven't had much TV time, which I don't consider a bad thing- especially after this particular experience! Ali was watching a show I'd previously considered harmless, iCarly. I could not believe the haughty disrespect the characters had towards their teacher and the flippant attitude they showed towards the adults on the show. The show portrayed parents and teachers as stupid, silly, irrational and totally incompetent. Occasionally over the last year Ali will say something with a very sharp tone and I do a double take. When I correct this behavior she honestly does look at me like she has no idea why I'm upset. Now I know why. She sees this behavior in her favorite shows on TV. I have always been very careful about what the children watched on television. They were never allowed to watch cartoons with indiscriminate violence. Shows like Spongebob, that are obnoxiously loud were kept to a minimum. I never even allowed the girls to play any sort of hunting games on the Wii. I come from a huge family of carnivorous sportsmen and while I'm not opposed to hunting in the least, I believe children should understand that when you shoot an animal it dies. Indiscriminate use of video games with guns desensitizes children to this truth and I've always avoided it. But here I am watching iCarly and all of a sudden I realize that I have fallen down on the job!
Recently John Rosemond, a child pyschologist, wrote an article about such a problem. His column can be found at www.rosemond.com. I was relieved to hear him say that although today's children are bombarded with this "incompetent parent" scenario, Dr. Rosemond says that reminding them about acceptable tone of voice in MY home will win out if reinforced. Ali and I had a long discussion about the acceptable tone of voice a child should use when talking to an adult, especially a parent or a teacher. She still needs to be reminded occasionally to "try that again", and she always does so successfully.
Raising kids is not getting any easier. Society isn't making it any easier. We are constantly told that kids don't need a dad in the home, that we can make irresponsible decisions and the government will take care of the consequences, that parents should obey their children, and that disregard for authority is cool.
I am working overtime to keep my children from falling into this terribly detrimental way of thinking, but it's not easy!
Have a good week everyone. Hopefully some cool weather will be here soon! I'm about to melt out there watching football games. Where's the hot chocolate weather?
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