Best Buddies or Worst Enemies
Memorable Monday Moments
or Best Buddies or Worst Enemies
That’s what you get when you have more than one child. I’ve particularly noticed it with our two youngest (who are 15 months apart). As I started reading Mosiah once again this month, I was reminded of a scripture that we’ve used over and over as we've tried to teach our children.
“And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, . . . But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.” (Mosiah 4:14-15)
A couple of summers ago, when the bickering and noise level was getting unbearable, it finally dawned on me that the key to not fighting was to develop love, and that comes through service. So, once again it was time for a family night lesson on the subject. We had each child come up with five ways in which they would like to be served – things like make my bed, clean my room, do another chore, scratch my back, play a game with me, fix me a snack, let me choose the tv show, etc. Then, whenever I caught them arguing or teasing, they had to do something to serve the other person. It worked really well! In fact, I think I only had to call them on it about three times.
This week I was reminded once again of the correlation between loving one another and no contention: “Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them.” (Mosiah 23:15) We love family night, because it gives us a chance to focus on developing love between our family members by sharing and practicing the teachings of the gospel.
or Best Buddies or Worst Enemies
That’s what you get when you have more than one child. I’ve particularly noticed it with our two youngest (who are 15 months apart). As I started reading Mosiah once again this month, I was reminded of a scripture that we’ve used over and over as we've tried to teach our children.“And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, . . . But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.” (Mosiah 4:14-15)
A couple of summers ago, when the bickering and noise level was getting unbearable, it finally dawned on me that the key to not fighting was to develop love, and that comes through service. So, once again it was time for a family night lesson on the subject. We had each child come up with five ways in which they would like to be served – things like make my bed, clean my room, do another chore, scratch my back, play a game with me, fix me a snack, let me choose the tv show, etc. Then, whenever I caught them arguing or teasing, they had to do something to serve the other person. It worked really well! In fact, I think I only had to call them on it about three times.
This week I was reminded once again of the correlation between loving one another and no contention: “Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them.” (Mosiah 23:15) We love family night, because it gives us a chance to focus on developing love between our family members by sharing and practicing the teachings of the gospel.
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