Teaching Our Children

We have had some challenges with our children over the past few months. Things have happened at school that have concerned me about whether we are teaching our children what they need to know and if we are teaching them sufficiently. I have struggled with how to deal with the situations we are facing.

While reading on tofw.com I found the following blog entry and it really made an impression on me. (http://tofw.com/story/128-teaching-healthy-sexuality) I have copied part of it here, but it is worth reading in its complete form on the tofw blog.

"Recently, I have been fascinated with Joseph Smith’s statement about the inner turmoil and uncertainty he wrestled with as an adolescent. In Joseph Smith History 1:12 he states, “…for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know…”

Imagine for a moment if the “would never know” part of that statement had come to pass? How would his life have been different? How would our lives be different? It is indeed a blessing that Joseph Smith was raised in a home that nurtured his spiritual sensitivities and supported his questions being directed heavenward.

While reflecting upon Joseph Smith’s process for finding answers, I began to wonder what would have happened if he had lived in today’s world and had chosen instead to Google his question rather than “ask of God”? I decided to Google a modern-day version of Joseph Smith’s question: “which religion is right and which should I join?” I was amazed to find out that in exactly 0.17 seconds I had 138,000,000 answers to my question!

As I stared at the stream of answers on my computer screen, I couldn’t help but think how completely unhelpful this process would be for an adolescent who is unsure of how to act. And, here is the punch-line: this is precisely what is happening with many of our youth who have sincere and valid questions about important areas of life, but who don’t know where to turn for answers. Sadly, the Internet has become a modern-day oracle for an entire generation of youth who are seeking answers on various topics. Some questions are appropriately handled online (e.g., “which movie has the best reviews right now?”), but others require the loving and steadying influence of direct communication with a parent, ecclesiastical leader or Heavenly Father."

When I face turmoil, where do I turn. When I have questions that I want to know, where do I turn? Unfortunately, to often, I do find myself opening the laptop and entering search criteria into Google. Sometimes I forget the best way for me to receive answers (especially ones regarding family) is to go to my Heavenly Father in prayer. I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of months praying to my Heavenly Father. Asking him for guidance and for comfort and to know how to handle the challenges we are facing. I have been comforted. I have been given some guidance. The challenges still continue, but I know my Heavenly Father is there for me when I need him and I will continue to go to my Heavenly Father, just as Joseph Smith did so many years ago.

Jordan's Baptism

Jordan was baptized on Saturday, May 7. It was a wonderful day. We had family come into town. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Ted came from Nevada. Aunt Teresa and Abby and Jonny came from Moses Lake and then all our local family, Grandma and Grandpa McKee, Aunt Valerie, Aunt Julie and Uncle David and Davyn were also able to attend.

We started the day with a family photoshoot of Tim's side of the family. After predictions of rain all week long for Saturday, we were pleasantly surprised when we woke up Saturday morning and it was not raining yet. Somehow, the rain managed to hold off until we were done with the photos. We even had some sun poking through the clouds off and on. I truly believe the Lord answered our prayers for no rain. Even though the kids were not the most cooperative, we managed to get some decent pictures and with a little photoshop touch-ups and one face replacement, we managed to get a family picture we can hang on the wall. While at the park trying to get pictures, the kids did have a great time playing outside with their cousin Davyn.

After photos we returned home, the kids played, adults talked and then it was time to get ready for the baptism. Jordan shared his baptism day with three other children in our stake, Roberto, Lindsey and Joseph. At Jordan's baptism, Grandma McKee gave the baptism talke and Lindsey's grandma gave the Holy Ghost talk. Time baptized and confirmed Jordan.

Jordan said that after he was baptized, he felt good. I did notice a different spirit about him for several days after his baptism. He was doing his best to be good and to be a good example. He seemed to be thinking about his actions a little more then usual.

After the baptism, all 16 of us headed to Olive Garden for dinner. We all had a great time and the food and service was great. After dinner, Donna's side of the family came over for dessert of brownies and ice cream.

It was a long day, but a very good day. We are so proud of Jordan for making this choice to be baptized.

I wanted to share one experience we had the week after his baptism. We were on our way to daycare one morning and we were talking about kaboom.org, which was a site that their school had submitted a video to try and win grant money to help raise funds for new playground equipment the school needs. The top ten videos were chosen and the public then got to vote. Jordan had spent some time watching these top 10 videos the day before. I think some of these videos really opened his eyes to what other kids have (or don't have). He asked me if I thought their schools old playground equipment could be donated to one of the organizations that submitted a video, but didn't win. He felt bad for the kids who only had trash to play with and no toys on their playgrounds. He sounded really passionate about helping them.

My Avid Reader

Let me just start out with saying that I am not an avid reader. I was a good reader in my early elementary school years, but reading was never one of those things I developed a love for as I grew up. Actually, I have struggled with reading most of my life. I have not necessarily struggled with the reading part, but the understanding part has always been a challenge for me. I am also a very slow reader, so that has hindered me slightly as well. I have always known the importance of reading though and Tim and I have always tried to instill the importance of reading in our children since they were babies. However, I never thought I would have a child that I could not keep up with. A child that before the age of 8 would read books I had never read. Well, I do, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

Jordan is my avid reader. He reads all kinds of books and has all kinds of interests. Anything from science fiction, to history, to plain silly books. He loves his Lego Club magazines too. Finding books for Jordan to read and reading with Jordan has actually been a great opportunity for me. I have had the chance to read books that I should have read when I was younger, but never did. Well recently he voiced an interest in reading Harry Potter. I haven't actually read the Harry Potter books, so I went to my sister (a school teacher) to ask her advice about whether they were appropriate for his age. She said that books 1 and maybe 2 would be alright, but she would not let him read beyond that yet. So with that advice I let him borrow book 1 from my mom. He began reading it right away. He read it every night. Before I knew it, he reported to me that he had finished the book. (As a side note: Whenever Jordan finishes a book at night when he is in bed, he always walks to the top of the stairs, calls down to us and reports that he has finished another book.) Anyway, so soon after that, he came home from school with book number 2 that he had borrowed from the school library. It did not take him long to read that one either. I wondered how much he really understood in these books, but when we watched the movies and he could tell me everything that was going to happen in the movie before it actually happened, I figured he was mostly understanding what he was reading in the books. He told me that he likes reading BIG books and is a little disappointed that he has to wait a while before I will let him read anymore Harry Potter books.

I remember when I read my first BIG book (in 6th grade). It was a little over 200 pages long and it took me FOREVER to finish it. I was reading it for a book report and struggled to get through it. I didn't think I would ever finish it. It amazes me that Jordan (in the 2nd grade) can read BIG books and actually looks forward to the challenge.

Jordan also loves reading Geronimo Stilton books. He can zip through one of these books in a day or two, so they don't keep him busy long, but lucky for us there are a lot of books in the series.

I hope this love of reading continues as he gets older and we can continue to find books he enjoys reading. Jordan truly is blessed with a wonderful talent and ability to be able to read and understand the way he does.

Choir Concert

Several months ago, Jordan decided to join his school choir. When he told me, I was a little surprised, but I encouraged him to do it because I know that he has potential. Singing has kind of been one of those love/hate relationships for him. He likes music. He likes singing along to music he hears on occassion. However, he often refuses to sing in Primary at church. He says he just doesn't like too and he doesn't like the songs. He chooses not to sing at daycare concerts because he just doesn't want to. I asked him what makes school choir so different? Why did he want to sing in the school choir? He did tell me a couple of his friends were in the choir. He also told me that he would get to go on a field trip and miss school. Then he told me he joined because he liked the songs they were singing. He was learning some Beatles songs like "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Drive My Car", and "Twist and Shout". He liked these songs, so he liked being in choir. So last week, he participated in the NE Quad choir concert for the school district that included the high school and middle school choir's as well as 4 elementary school choirs. He did well, and I am happy to see him try new things. Personally, I hope he can find a joy in singing and recognize that he may not always get to sing songs he loves to sing, but we will always enjoy listening to him.

Where's the Birthday Cake?

On Saturday we went out to an early dinner with my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is today. We had not really planned any other birthday party celebration, but when we realized we would not be able to get together on Sunday afternoon to celebrate, we stopped to get grandma a gift of some pretty flowers on our way back to their house after dinner. When we got their we were relaxing and chatting while the kids were playing. Then someone mentioned cake. Unfortunately, we had not planned ahead, so we did not have any birthday cake for grandma. However, Lauren did not believe this could be possible. She insisted there was cake and pulled grandma out to the garage to find the cake. (Usually, when we celebrate a birthday at grandma and grandpa's house the cake is kept in the garage until we celebrate.) Anyway, so Lauren was puzzled when she couldn't find a cake in the garage. She had grandma even open the freezer to look in there. Instead of bringing in a cake, grandma and Lauren found some cookies they could bake. In the meantime, my younger sister left to run a couple of errands. She returned while Lauren and grandma were cooking the cookies and when she came in the door, Lauren ran around the corner to greet her and ask her if she got grandma's cake. My sister said the look on Lauren's face was priceless. Once again Lauren was disappointed because my sister had no cake for grandma. From this experience, I have learned how important birthday cake is for all birthday celebrations, or there may be a little girl that is very disappointed.

The good news though is that my dad brought home some cheesecake to share with my mom and they were going to enjoy that for her birthday tonight.

He Can Ride

The other night, the sun was shining when we got home from work and school. Of course, with any sign of sun, the kids want to play outside. Colin asked for his bike, and asked for me to take the training wheels off. He has asked several times in the last several months, but I had not taken them off since I spent the first month or two of summer taking the training wheels off and then putting them back on because he was not quite ready. By the end of summer when he asked, I told him he would have to wait a while longer. However, I had noticed that he seemed to be balancing better and relying less on the training wheels, so I decided to let him try again. Once the training wheels were off, I held the back of the bike while he got on and helped him get started. He rode all the way down the street and I hardly hung onto his bike at all. I didn't actually let go all of the way because I thought for sure if I did, he would topple right over. I told him I was barely hanging on and that I would let go next time. He started riding back up the street and I let go. He rode all by himself. It took a little more practice for him to be able to start, but once he got started he could ride. Before we know it, he will be able to zoom around the neighborhood on his bike with his brother.

State Capitals

We went to my parents house for dinner last weekend to celebrate Lauren's 3rd birthday. During dinner we were talking about the names of the states and their capitals. I asked the boys if they knew what the capital of Washington was. Colin quickly responded, "W". We got a chuckle out of the total innocence and correctness of his answer. Afterall, the capital letter of Washington is W.