Working On Our Attitudes

This is the difficult time of year for home school moms and their children, especially children of the male gender. For most of the week it has been raining and cold outside and my boys have been NAUGHTY. They have pent up energy and nowhere to go with it except to pick at each other, wrestle on the cold hardwood floors and end up with boo boos all over their bodies. During school hours, they have not been obedient and I ended up raising my voice WAY TOO MUCH several days in a row. I do not like getting to that place, so I am rethinking my strategy and trying to find more effective ways to redirect rambunctious little boys. This week I gave out extra school assignments and chores. I also remembered that we invested in a Nintendo Wii game system two years ago because we liked the physical exercise the boys would get with several of the games. Sneakily, they have convinced me to let them buy other less active games and those energy exerting options were quickly forgotten. No more! I see the absolute necessity of giving them allotted times to play Wii Boxing and Tennis each day. We'll call it Physical Education for now, until the earth dries up a bit and they can chase each other with pool noodles in our brown yard.

I will share their "disobedience paragraphs" in my next post. For now, this mama wants to breathe more, yell less and help her sons become respectful and obedient in all situations. It's a huge goal and in today's society, a lost art. I apologize to them as soon as I yell, but the true test is whether I yell again or find another way to get their attention. Once, when I asked B to forgive me, he said, "Are you going to do it again, Mom?" Ouch. Dr. James Dobson tells parents that yelling gives children the control and power, they see mom get upset and think, "Hey, I made her do that. Cool." Taking specific toys or activities from them, grounding them for a certain amount of time from the TV or game system, extra writing assignments, sit ups or push ups, extra chores (learning to clean toilets) are all great ways to get their attention. I do not need to raise my voice to make a point!