The Eye of a Stranger... recognizing kindness

Big A with his gift

It seems like you hear about “Stranger Danger” all the time. It was preached when I was a kid and it’s still a big thing today for my kids. There are many dangers out there and we have to be careful, play it safe. Watching the nightly news will likely make you want to lock your children away Rapunzel style till their 18… maybe even longer. While we all have to watch out for these dangers sometimes a stranger can make your day. This is because a stranger is not obligated to love you, like your family, has no connection to you like a friend. They are a total and complete enigma that can sometimes see something you overlook every day.

 
Case in point…….

 Me and A and a were shopping at the Disney store the other day. Big A had been a good boy, behaving, but little a had been a bit of a handful that day so a lot of my attention was focused on trying to wrangle her in. We looked through the store at all the new toys and Big A showed me a cute costume he liked. He was just browsing around being good so I wasn’t really focused on him.

 

We were about to leave the store when a  trio of ladies walked over to us and one stepped up and said “Excuse me sir,” to A. She then smiled at me and continued. “We have been looking though the store and noticed what a nice boy you are. You’ve said excuse me and thank you, helped your sister and been very sweet and mannerly this whole time. I used to be a 2^nd grade teacher and so I know how rare it is for a little boy to be so nice and polite. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate mannerly little boys and so I bought you a gift to say thank you for being so good.” And she handed A a bag. “I saw you have a sister so I got her a little something too so she wouldn’t be left out, (she handed little a a bag too) but I want you to know this is because you are such a kind and mannerly boy and I want you to know that people notice.” We all thanked her and she left saying to me “You have a special boy there.” She had gotten Big A a Star Wars ship and little a a stuffed toy.

 

It is kind of sad. I had been so distracted that I had not really paid much attention to my Big A. He really is such a good boy all the time I think sometimes I take it for granted. It completely amazed me that my sweet little guy had made such an impression on this kind stranger that she would do something like that for him. A stranger made me remember how amazing and special my Big A is, made me realize that I shouldn’t take it for granted. Sometimes a stranger can offer much more than danger….

punishment (or consequences) chart ... free printable

 

Punishments… the bane of any parent’s existence. When to punish, how much?? You don’t want to over punish but you don’t want to “under” punish either. Why can’t kids just all be perfect and save us parents this big hassle?

At our house we were having a couple of problems in the punishment area. First off Jeff and I are on opposite ends of the punishment spectrum. I’m an under punisher and he’s an over punisher. We were having a hard time agreeing what really fit what was going on, we were confounded and the kids were confused, all of which made for some very unproductive situations. Looking for an idea I came across the idea of a “punishment chart” (some call it a clip system). Where the kids start each day “good" and as they do bad things they progress down the chart to worse punishments (or consequences if you want to be all PC about it). I created one and printed little pic’s of the kids faces to move down the chart. (Jeff thought I should have used grumpy faced pics instead!)

It has worked out wonderfully. Jeff and I stay on the same page with punishments and the kids know what’s going to happen if they keep acting up. Now if they start acting up I can just say “You’re gonna move down the chart!” and it curbs things, especially if they have already moved down a little. An added benefit is they are proud if they don’t move down in a day, “Mommy I was “Good” all Day!”

For a Free printable of the chart click HERE

 

 

Big A Gets Glasses

 

Our Big A was turning into a squinter…. I remember those squinting times…. Right before I got my first pair of glasses. We were able to get him an appointment with one of the few pediatric optometrists in Utah. As we waited for our far off appointment to come Big A was squinting more and more and asking his teacher to sit closer to the board. We were sure glasses were inevitable.

The day of the appointment finally came and we all headed up to Primary Children’s to visit Dr. Dries. I wont lie I was really nervous. Jeffs family has a bunch of eye problems and I was worried. Big A was not worried and seemed to actually have fun at the check-up, pointing out 3D flies and wearing the crazy machine.

The diagnosis was what we expected, Big A needed glasses. He has an astigmatism (just like his Mommy). Nothing big, nothing scary, just an easily correctable blurriness (whew!). We headed over to the glasses store and let Big A pick out his first pair of glasses…..

 

Fun with Firemen

 

Last weekend we took the kiddo’s to McDonalds for breakfast. Dining at the big table in the front was a group of West Jordan Firemen. The kids were in awe, tugging on my pants “Mommy, mommy those are REAL firemen!” A wanted to talk to them but was a little too shy to go over. He geared up his courage as we ate and A, a, and Jeff want over to say hi. The firemen were so nice to the kids, they even gave them “Jr West Jordan Firemen” badges. The kids were so excited.

Coincidently the firemen were finished and getting up to leave at the same time we were. They gave the kids knuckles and asked “Hey guys, do you want to come and see our truck?” Boy did they ever! Any shyness had faded away and the kids were now bouncing down the parking lot holding hands with their new buddies headed toward their big white truck (found out that their red fire truck was in the shop and their loaner was white!) The kids climbed right in the back, inspecting it all. The super nice firemen asked if they wanted to “drive” the truck. Holy Cow, excitement! The kids took turns sitting in the driver’s seat “driving” the big rig having a blast! When it was time to leave A and a wanted their picture with their new buddies. I have to say the West Jordan firemen could not have been nicer. They were so gracious and kind to my kiddos it was amazing. I guess the stereotype of the “hero” firemen is true!