Words of Wisdom from the old guys

Today our fifth Sunday lesson, taught by our new Bishop Madril, was about the older generation sharing their experiences and what they learned from them with the younger generation. We decided we would try to follow that council by writing a few words of wisdom about families on our blog (hopefully each Sunday we will take turns). This week is Randy's turn so here he is.

How do we create righteous desire in our children?

Zack Federkeil said something profound for a 6 year old Kindergarten kid.
He accompanied Grandma Brown to a recent ward dinner. They were both standing in line getting their food and Grandma noticed that a young child was trying to get a piece of watermelon but was having a hard time because it had saran wrap on it. Grandma, being the nice person she is, put down her plate and took the wrap off the melon and handed it to the child. As Zack and grandma were walking to their table, Zack said, "grandma, that was really nice, you are a nice person." How do you think that made grandma feel?

As they say, out of the mouth of babes comes some pretty wise stuff - funny stuff too. Obviously, Michelle/Gabe have been practicing the principle of positive reinforcement. Making a conscious effort to notice and say something positive when a child or young person does something good, especially when they do it on their own initiative, creates more positive desire to repeat the behavior. Wise parenting requires a lot of patience, positiveness and self restraint.

Wise parents develop a conscious habit to look for the good and are quick to reinforce it. Parents are also wise when they are slow to criticize or find fault. It's easy, even without realizing it, to develop a pattern of criticism, after all, isn't it a parent's job to teach and correct. Yes it is, but a wise parent leans heavily on the positive, which creates an increased desire to do and be good.

A child who reinforces an adult's good behavior is a rare thing, even heavenly - thanks Zack.

Summer 2010

Here are just a few pictures from our fun summer. We had a Randal reunion on the 4th of July and went to Navajo Lake fishing. We had a Williams Reunion in Logan.