B+C+B+C+B+C: Family Night, Brianna-style

Monday, October 18, 2010

Family Night, Brianna-style

I got smacked with the guilt-bat when I read this quote recently:

"I wonder if having unplanned and infrequent family home evenings will be enough to fortify ourselves and our children with sufficient moral strength to meet the complexities of our day." --James E. Faust

The answer to that is a big fat NO. And the answer to whether or not our little family has regular, planned Family Nights is NO. We've been on and off with it throughout the years. Mostly off. I justify our laziness, thinking we'll be better when the kids are older and can participate more. But what are the odds that we'll suddenly be good FHEers if we don't make it a habit now? So we're trying. The current game plan is to sing a song (Brianna knows almost all the words to Families Can Be Together Forever), then choose a basic gospel topic and have a discussion about it on Brianna's level. Last week was prayer. Our conversation last just a couple minutes, but I think it was productive. She announced at the end, "Bennett NEEDS to pray!" Yes, yes he does... that sinful little diaper-waster.

Tonight's topic was Jesus.
"To fathers and mothers, to grandfathers and grandmothers, and to those without children of their own who lovingly nurture children and youth, my counsel is to speak more frequently about Jesus Christ. In His holy name is great spiritual power. 'There [is] no other name given nor any other way. . . whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ' (Mosiah 3:17)." --Neil L. Andersen

Here are some highlights from the conversation:

Me: Brianna, who is Jesus Christ?
Brianna: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I go nursery. I play with Sienna.
Me: Jesus is Heavenly Father's Son
Brianna: No it's dark now. Sun gone.
Brian: Brianna, when we do bad things, Jesus forgives us.
Brianna: I say sorry and not go time-out.
Me: Yes! Because of Jesus, we don't have to go to time-out forever. If he didn't die for us, we would go to timeout forever!
Brianna: Jesus die like Beast! [she recently watched Beauty and the Beast]
Me: And Jesus came back to life just like the Beast did!
Brianna: It was raining. We can't go swing.
Brian: Jesus is our brother.
Brianna: No Bennett my brudder! Courtney my sister.
Me: Jesus was nice to everyone, even people that weren't nice to him. Can you try to be like Jesus and be nice to everyone?
Brianna: I hit Daddy.

Maybe we should've just ended after the song.

5 comments:

Unknown said...: This is really funny. One thing that has worked well for us is the nursery manual. it's not expensive like $5 and has kid friendly lessons. There is a coloring page and a picture for visual aid with every lesson! We bought the manual so we could use the pictures, but we print the coloring pages from the online manual. I highly recommend this. My 3 yr old like to sit and "read" this manual.; October 19, 2010 at 9:48 AM
Julie said...: i love how real you are !; October 19, 2010 at 10:32 AM
Melanie said...: LOVE it! LOVE it! LOVE it! What a personality! great job for trying! Don't give up! I remember being there.... but You'll be amazed in about 6 months with what she'll respond!; October 19, 2010 at 12:49 PM
Sally Jackson said...: your blog always makes me laugh--like out loud and genuine. love it! that briannaa has an awesome spirit!; October 19, 2010 at 7:05 PM
Debbie said...: Hilarious! Keep writing down those dialogues.; October 19, 2010 at 8:48 PM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Monday, October 18, 2010

Family Night, Brianna-style

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