And Now for the "More on That Later..."

In my Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings list below, I mentioned that the hymn "Whatsoever You Do" ties in w/ a new discipline technique Casinodad & I want to implement. We've been having a LOT of problems lately w/ the munchkins disrespecting their siblings & us. There has been much fighting, back talking, nitpicking, etc. Casinodad & I have tried many things to put an end to their behavior, but haven't had much luck. There are some issues beyond our control, but we want to try maintaining any control that we can.

I had an idea recently that might help them see how their behavior effects not only our family, but also Jesus. My dad gave me a copy of a pencil drawing he had of Jesus. Within Jesus hair & beard are penciled drawings of His life here on Earth. Our plan is to post the following on our kitchen cork board: a large construction paper heart over a picture of our family, over another construction paper heart, over the photo of Jesus. The munchkins will not know what is underneath the top heart.

Each time they do something mean or disrespectful to someone else in the family, they will stick a push-pin through the pages. After several days, we will remove the first heart so they can see how their actions hurt the family, then continue the push-pins. After a couple more days, the rest of the pages will be removed to show how their actions hurt Jesus also.

My original idea was to just use the photo of Jesus. When I broached the idea to my dad, he thought it was really good & suggested using a family photo also. We can talk & talk until we're blue in the face, trying to get them to understand how they hurt others through their behavior, but I really think a visual will make a more lasting impression.

To be continued w/ the results...