Blessings!!

Blessings!!
Seventeen blessings that make growing older worth the effort!!...and 2 more blessings since this picture was taken!
Welcome



Wouldn't it be wonderful if your family were the envy of all your neighborhood? Not because your family had the biggest house, the fanciest car or the very best interior decorator.

The reason isn't that you are the parents of the most beautiful children, you have a "to die for spouse" and you command a 6 figure income.

The fact of the matter is, you don't own a fancy house, your car is a CarMax reject, and your interior decorator is the local Goodwill Store.

Is all of that important? No! What is important is that your family is "The Happiest Family on the Block"!

I will be sharing our secrets that worked with our 6 children, 6 sons and daughters-in-laws and 19 grandchildren! I will share secrets and ideas that we did do and wished we hadn't, things we didn't do, but wished we had, AND things we did do and are glad we got something right!! Hindsight is 20/20 you know!

The "happy family" revolves around:

Marriage

Raising children

Faith

Schooling

Discipline

Childbirth

Hobbies- cooking, sewing, crafts, decorating

Making money

Finances

Being friends with your grown up children

Being the best grandparents you can be

Etc, etc, etc

Grab a cup of coffee, sit down, relax and let's visit!

My Darling Grandaughter

My Darling Grandaughter

Monday, April 19, 2010

"I said said so, THAT'S WHY!!!"

When our children were young we did not have any extra money floating around. With 6 children it seemed that there was always "too much month left over at the end of our money". To help ease things financially, I babysat other children during the day, some after school and some all day. Very often my house resembled a zoo at any given moment. Somehow we survived!!

An interesting thing happened on more than one occasion... A mom or dad would come to pick up their child at the close of the work day. I had watched this child from 7:30 to 6:00 and had very little problems. He/she would play, interact with others, and generally be a well behaved little person. When the parent walked in the door, the child turned, in an instance, into a holy terror, screaming, kicking and demanding the parent's attention. What happened??? 
This child knew what methods worked with their parents.
The parent would ask," What do you do to make your children so well behaved?" I would share with them some of our secrets but they would not want to use the principles we used, even though those very principles brought about happy, respectful, well adjusted children.

Numerous times while eating out with our family at a restaurant, when they were all under the age of 13, other diners would approach our table, usually remarking on the size of our family. In the course of the conversation,  they would compliment us on how well behaved our little ones were. My husband and I would look at each other rather blankly...."this is normal".

Honestly, I am not telling this to brag, but just to try to make a point.... loving, effective discipline works, consistent child training works, but it is hard work! It was hard work and God's help that made it happen.
So what did we do??....
The number one priority was obedience. We expected to be obeyed no matter what. At a very early age, we started training our children to obey. When they were crawling around, pulling up to things, reaching for things, we worked on abedience. If they reached for something that was "off limits", they were firmly told "NO" and taken away from the temptation. If we were at a Bible study, they were taught to be quiet. They soon learned that "no" means "NO". As they grew older, "no" still meant "no" and it was because "I said so!"
No arguing, no questions. If we were not obeyed, the children knew there would be consequences.

I am going to go into depth about some of this in later chapters, but I want to say one thing right now... Our children today are not warped, stifled, backward, socially inept misfits, but rather are happy, well adjusted, interesting, productive men and women. Heaven forbid, they were disciplined!
Whew! My knees are stiff from standing on my soapbox so long. I will climb down and head for bed..Come again tomorrow and we will get into some specifics.

4 comments:

Anita said...

Thankfully and fortunately, my three daughters are well behaved in public, too, and we've received complimenting comments, too.
Most of the time, they are well behaved at home, but the times when they aren't is stressful. Nothing major...whining, and slow to respond to chores or requests, seem to be the main culprits.
Also, things bother me more, when I'm tired, hungry, or worried. It's a two-way street - I have to conrol my emotions, too.
Now, I'll get off my soap box. :)
I'll be tuning in again to hear more about your wonderful and blessed family.

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Micael said...

Thanks for participating in this weeks Monday Madness! I hope you have a great week!

Micael :D
www.SavingObsession.com

1 Precious Daughter, 2 precious Grandaughters

1 Precious Daughter, 2 precious Grandaughters
I am blessed!