Helping Kids Prepare and Learn from General Conference

I love General Conference. To me it feels like Christmas, and not just because I can stay in my pajamas all day. Christmas and Conference have a lot in common. We  get to feel the spirit of Christ, we get to be with family and, if we're lucky, we get to revel in a whole day of unscheduled bliss. (The extra benefit of Conference is that it comes twice a year and the traffic is way better.) The downside of Conference, as with Christmas, is that it's over all too soon. I want to make the most of it and focus on what really matters.

This year I decided to prepare. Not just come with a question, but actually do some work in advance. The reason is simple mathematics.

1. X= effort and Y= results.
2. X=Y.  
3. Therefore 0X=0Y and 385X=385Y

Simply stated, you get out what you put in.

All the speakers prepare what they will say, but do we prepare to hear? The answer is yes! I made a goal to watch all of my Conference DVD's before the big day. My hubby began reading a Conference talk daily. What do we do for our kids? My friend Donna had some great ideas.

First, she sits down with them and explains what the conference is for and what they will be doing. I'd like to ask the kiddos if they have any special questions or goals.

Next, she comes up with a way to help them learn from the talks. There are two basic approaches, the intrinsic and the extrinsic reward.

Since my kids are small and have trouble sitting still for long periods of time, I already know that I won't hear all the talks. I'll be helping the boys to the bathroom or getting them away from the street. To avoid missing all of Conference, it helps to have a plan.

My favorite idea was using treat jars. You fill up several jars with treats, then label the jars with words the kids can listen for: Atonement, Family, Service, Covenant, Plan of Happiness etc. When they hear the word, they get to pick a treat from the corresponding jar. Pretty nifty. (I also know a father who carries a giant roll of quarters with him to his family's TV room. He chooses a word and the first kid who hears it gets a quarter.) This is the extrinsic reward approach and it works well with smaller children.

The intrinsic reward approach focuses on the benefits of learning and feeling the Spirit. It works best with older kids.It might involve taking notes or writing in journals. For older kids or if you want to discourage bribes,simply providing quiet activities my help preserve reverence in your home. My friend puts together a little basket with notepads, colored pencils, gospel-related coloring pages, puzzles, games and other activities for her daughter to use during the sessions. If all else fails, BINGO may help the kids stay occupied so you can listen rather than referee a baseball game.

What to Put In The Jars

Prizes don't have to be edible. Erasers, tops, beads, colored rocks, CTR rings and pass-along cards can all be kid treasures. You could even give them each a treasure box they can try to fill up, symbolizing hidden treasures of knowledge.

The jars can hold materials for a craft that you do together. Crayons, cotton balls, colored paper, beads, ribbons, glitter, stickers. Once you have enough, you can build a house, make a collage or a book. 

The jars can hold puzzle pieces. Once you have them all, you get to put it together. Sort of like gospel knowledge.

Treats could be themed to match the topics. For instance, tiny doughnuts can go in the Eternity jar (because a circle symbolizes eternity) and the Holy Ghost might be Dove chocolate. Truth might be a Golden Nugget and Family might be Hugs and Kisses. Since Jesus ate fish and honeycomb after his resurrection (the story of Easter), Goldfish crackers and Honeycomb cereal might be a fun choice. Endure to the End might be trail mix.

Treats can be healthy too. Word of Wisdom better be a veggie tray. Grapes, berries, raisins, dried fruit and nuts will work in place of candy. In our house, kids won't eat a raisin while they can see a chocolate chip. To get them to choose healthy options, we make them the only options.

With Conference falling on Easter and April 6 (the day the Church was organized) immediately following, I'm pretty excited. Here's what I'm going to do.

1. Practice teaching and listening with the kids as we watch our DVD's this week.
2. Assemble a basket (probably an Easter basket) full of coloring pages, pencils, and scissors.
3. Make a delicious breakfast.
4. Surprise the kids with the prize jars as a last resort.   I'll attach pictures of Jesus to some of the treats.
5. Encourage my kids to write to the speakers and say thank you.
6. Go for a walk between sessions.

Whatever you do, enjoy it. And if you miss some talks, you can look them up on the Church website to read, listen and watch. 

If you want to read more, this blog is pretty cool. I would love to hear about what you do for Conference. 

I'm Not The Mom I Planned On Becoming

If there were such a thing as perfect parents, our kids would develop a false impression of the world and unhealthy expectations for themselves. Good thing we never come close. If there's one thing I've learned, it is that failure is good. Allowing our kids to fail helps them learn. Allowing our kids to see us fail, helps them develop realistic expectations about themselves and other people. Parenting is a balancing act and sometimes "we all fall down." I sort of wish I'd known that earlier in life. Then again, it might have reduced some of my most glorious failures. Epic, you might say.

I always wanted to be a mom. As a kid, I got into the habit of taking care of people when they were sick, and giving them hugs when they were sad. I learned how to talk to kids so they would understand. I taught my younger siblings how to write their names. My mother saw to it that I became an expert diaper changer, and tried her best to make me a good housekeeper. I read books on child rearing, health and nutrition, education, discipline and fun craft ideas.

Pity it did me no good. Any head start I ever had on the whole mom thing was screamed and diaper-changed out of me in the first week of motherhood.

 Back to square one. Never mind what all the other babies like. What does this baby like? This baby liked being held at all times. This baby cried from boredom and hated being alone. (Funny. He still does.) This baby made me take all of my parenting theories and throw them out the window. Here are some examples.

1. I will never yell. My child will learn how to handle anger and other emotions from watching me and I must set a good example. 

Whoever came up with that one is living inside a rainbow made of flowers and fairy dust. Or they just never had kids. Infinite patience does exist, but mortals don't have it. Should we yell all the time? No. Should we try to keep our cool? Yes. But here's the deal. The kid's job is to find out what your limits are. They will never stop pushing until they find it. We are human. We fail, often miserably.

Here's what I learned: If I learn my own limits, (often thanks to my son's prodding,) I can set healthier ones that never approach the screaming zone. If I must yell, I can leave the room.

What happens when I fail in all my ambitions and yell in spite of myself? I am teaching my children that people are not perfect, but they can say sorry and try to do better. I am also teaching them how to get along in a society of imperfect people. Learning that other people have anger and limits is a benefit for kids.


2. If I never hit, my kids will never learn to hit.

Wrong. Both my kids started hitting at about nine months and I don't know where they learned it. They were hitting me. I thought with my first one that if I never reacted, he would get bored and stop eventually. Not so much. My son's hitting continued until he got a firm swat on his hindquarters. Then it was over. He had found the boundary. That seems backwards, doesn't it? Actually, it's just teaching natural consequences. He can learn in the safety of his own home that he can't go around hitting people. (I did teach my kids that they can stand up for themselves if they get bullied. They are, in effect, teaching natural consequences to other kids when they do. The idea that self defense is "bullying back" is all nonsense.)

3. If I Never Buy Toy Guns, They Will Never Play Fighting Games

Well, they didn't learn it from me. But they did learn it. My sons played Army, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys, Pirates and every other game that involved fighting. They made action figures fight each other. As there were no toy weapons in the house, they used their fingers as a guns and pointed them at me. Bang goes that theory.

What I learned: They're boys and inherently interested in fighting and protecting. One will make a great Jedi someday (that's what he wants to be.) The other might be a ninja. (What does a ninja do, anyway?) Or maybe he'll be a brilliant military serviceman or law enforcement officer. As long as he uses his powers for good and doesn't go to the Dark Side, it's alright with me.

4. I'm Going to Be Such a Fun Mom

If chores and homework are fun, then yes. Actually, I am pretty fun, but not as often as they or I would like. We go to museums, farms, games, movies zoos, aviaries. We have picnics and outings. We have read-a-thons and awesome pretend games. But we also have work to do, things to learn and bills to pay. I can't always be with them. (I have a job, need breaks, and they don't always want me.) And I say no. A lot. (Candy is bad for you! I'm sorry!)

What I learned: Cleaning house can be fun too. If I can teach my children to be glad in work and play, to entertain themselves, to come up with fun ideas on their own, and to keep a house and budget in order, I am preparing them for a good future.

5. It Will Be Easy to Tell When Discipline is Necessary And When Not

Fact: I struggle with it all the time. The balancing act again. Did he do that just to be mean or does he have some other reason? Is this really a big deal? Did he really even do it? Maybe he needs to learn these consequences on his own. They will work it out by themselves. Maybe I should just give him a break. I would hate to be in trouble all the time. The thing is, I thought I would be a lot more strict than I am. I hate giving punishments. I would rather listen, reason, explain, hope for the best, and give another chance. They really do want to make me happy.

What I learned:  Most of my kids' naughties don't require any reaction from me because they are just not very important. Sometimes they just want to make me laugh. Often, they want my attention. Like me, kids need to make mistakes in order to learn. As they grow, so does their agency. They need to practice using their agency because they have a whole lifetime of decision making ahead of them. Basically, my job is to teach correct principles so they can govern themselves.

6. Parenting Will Be Hard

You have no idea! I had no idea how hard it was until I did it. I've been doing it for seven years and it still throws me curve balls. Every day. I have rarely spent so much time running, or on my knees. There's always a bigger question, always a greater challenge. The fact that we've made it this far is nothing short of a miracle.

What I'm learning: I can do hard things. Sometimes I look ahead into an uncertain future and think, There's no way I can do this. Later on, I look back and think, I can't believe we did this. I am not alone. God, angels, my husband and a host of other moms and dads have got my back. We can do this.


Am I a good mom? I'll just ask my kids.

They say, "Yes, because you feed us" and "I like Mommy because she's nice, but she spends too much time on the computer." (And "My feet are messing up the bed because they're too strong. I need different feet. Somebody needs to take me to the feet store and take these ones off and put new ones on. I know why they're so strong. It's because I ate so much salad.") There you have it. Even in my failures, I am still being a good mom. And it's time to get off the computer.