Character Building

Weekly Inspirations:
A Lesson in Honesty
When I ever I speak on building character in one's children, my home evolves into one mad science lab where my children are the guinea pigs, and I am the wicked scientist whose head unfortunately detaches itself multiple times during the course of the week.
This was one of those weeks, and without fail, we had a few of those moments (hmm...I think I call them bedlam moments).
Less you think I didn't share them with the ladies that I spoke to.....I did.....our family virtue is honesty, so how horrible would that be if I didn't share from the heart. :)

As I have mentioned before, our family focuses on one specific character quality a month. I realized that I have been lax in bringing some hands on activities for you to implement with your own family. I love to refer to them as "tools of intentionality."
These are just a sampling of things that we do, but they can be a helpful jumping off point in furthering the character development of your family.

I have a PDF file for you to download with five wonderful activities. These are NOT just for children. I have dinner conversation starters, fabulous recipe to begin to encourage children to express their feelings, as well as some ideas for expressing those spontaneous gestures of love.
Please feel free to share this with your Moms' group, bible study etc, and send them back to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more ideas.
I am going to prioritize adding simple, yet meaningful tradition ideas to help take the Chaos out of the Christmas count down, and focus on the things that are the most important.

Please don't get overwhelmed. It only take one simple tradition executed purposefully to create those memory moments that you desire for your home.

Click the link below to print the activity cards. I couldn't figure out how to create it's own separate page, so you will need to back space back to my site....sorry.

Healthy Home Habits - Honesty Activities

Teaching Honesty

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." Thomas

Many of us are honest with others but not always honest with ourselves,
or how we represent ourselves to other people. We are afraid that if we reveal
how we really think or feel, others will not like us. Since authenticity (being true to who are)
is the foundation for all good relationships, this is one of those important life lessons
that will impact your child’s happiness throughout their lifetime.

We need to teach the little people in our lives that it is okay to express their true feelings,
as long as they do it in respectful and constructive ways. Young children naturally say
what they feel and think, but they learn early in life that many emotions are “bad,” so they begin to lie in order to hide those “bad” feelings.

We mustn’t forget that we cannot always control our feelings. They come and they go.
We can, however, control our behavior, and we can CHOOSE how we respond.
Make it clear to your children that no one
else “makes” them behave in a certain way. How they behave is their own choice and responsibility, no one else’s. As they express themselves, use this as a precious
opportunity to dig into their heart, and begin meaningful conversation about what the root of their "feelings" are. Many times with my younger ones, the "I want this" response comes to light. What a wonderful time to begin directing them back to all the things that they can be grateful for. The attitude of Gratitude, even in the midst of disappointing situations, is a key focus area with our kids. And yep...it's our November virtue, so I can't wait to share more. :)

Weekly Inspirations: A Lesson in Feelings Teaching children to identify feelings can be a challenge. Here is the story of one child's enthusiasm for the Happy/Sad pumpkin activity :

“Last October’s packet had the pumpkin face - remember those? Well, we used them to help Ryan (just turned 3) understand that we were happy or sad when he did something. We explained that if he did something that made us happy, he would get a happy pumpkin to put up on the door of our pantry for all to see. If he did something that made us sad, then he would get a sad pumpkin and he was supposed to stop doing that action.

He loved getting the pumpkins that were happy and would even ask for them if he knew he was making us happy and we forgot to hand one out. He also would run away if he saw us coming with a sad pumpkin. We also told him he could give out pumpkins if someone was making him happy and sad. He loved running after his older brother with a sad pumpkin just for fun. It was quite hilarious.

Here is the funny part: One morning when Claire was about 4 months old I got up to take a shower and she and Ryan were still sleeping. After a while Ryan comes in the bathroom and very sternly, hands on hips says, ’How many does it take to stop her?!’ I rush out of the shower, not understanding what he was talking about and fearing something not good, and find Claire with 7 sad pumpkins taped to her and she was crying her head off in her basinet and of course Ryan was entering the bedroom with yet another sad pumpkin.

He said he kept giving her sad pumpkins but she just wouldn’t stop crying. I almost died laughing and had to explain that we don’t tape things to the baby but couldn’t resist giving him a great big hug for trying to help his sister stop crying. Of course he asked for his happy face to hang up."
~ Jeanette Sampson

More Tradition ideas for October:
We don't celebrate Halloween as a holiday - we focus on the "fall aspect," but many of you do, and there are a variety of fun activities. I love the Walk your Worries Away idea at the very end.

	Host a Pumpkin-Carving Contest – With neighbors, friends or family, host an annual pumpkin-carving contest. Invite judges to select the winners and prepare some fun Halloween ribbons to hand out. Try black construction paper ribbons with an orange pumpkin on top where you can write the category. The scariest, the silliest, the most original or just the best all around, are all examples of great awards. Everyone in the family will want to help choose and carve the “family pumpkin.” After the awards ceremony, bring out your Halloween refreshments and watch a spooky movie together! Don’t forget to take photos to add to your Halloween Album.!
Musical Costumes – This tradition puts a new spin on a favorite childhood game—musical chairs. It’s perfect for an adult Halloween party. Invite each person to bring acostume in a brown bag. Everyone takes a seat and places their own bag under a chair.Turn on some spooky Halloween music and play a game of musical chairs (with a chair foreach person). When the music stops, each guest must take the brown bag from underneath their chair and wear the costume that’s inside for the rest of the evening. Your guests will bring outrageous costumes because they know they won’t have to wear them. Be preparedfor an evening full of laughter. Year after year, this tradition becomes more hilarious as your guests bring wilder costumes.!
H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N H is for haunted houses ::A is for apple picking :: L is for looking for treats ::L is for listening to spooky stories :: O is for October harvest ::W is for wicked witches ::E is for eerie ghosts :: E is for eating lots of candy ::N is for neighborhood haunting. Gather your family to create spooky, funny or cute Halloween poems. Have each personread their poem aloud during dinner or at your Halloween party. Once your poems are perfected, type them on the computer in a Halloween-looking script on ivory paper. Then collage the poems onto one sheet and feature this keepsake in a black frame sitting out among the Halloween décor for all to see each year.!
	Spooky Spiders & Creepy Crawlers – Start a new Halloween tradition and bake a scary cake using a mix or one of your favorite recipes. Once the cake is baked, frost it with dark chocolate frosting and sprinkle crumbled chocolate wafers over it. This layer will transform the cake into the “dirt” grounds of a cemetery. Insert shortbread cookie tombstones with various messages like “BOO” or “RIP”written with frosting. Add whatever little plastic (or edible) spooky spiders and creepy crawlers you can find at your local craft store, and you’ll be sure to raise the dead. Once the cake is sliced and served, each person not only receives a delicious treat, but a delightful scare!
Costume Memory Game – Go through your old Halloween photos and set aside any that show family members or friends dressed up in sweet, hilarious or spooky costumes. Make copies of every photo you want to use, cut them into identical rectangles (maybe 2” x 2”) and create a memory game your children will never get tired of. Older children can make this game for the smaller ones, or Mom can make it for all to enjoy. Roast some pumpkin seeds and work on the game together. You can add new photos each year. If you don’t remember how to play the game, it’s pretty simple. Place all cards on the table, face down in even rows, and take turns turning two over at a time as you try to find pairs. Whoever has the most pairs when the cards have all been picked up is the winner. This will soon become a family favorite and your children will ask to play it over and over again.
Walk Away Your Worries – The fall is a wonderful time to take a walk amongst the brilliant colors of the fallen leaves and breathe in the crisp air which has settled in behind the hot summer months. Plan an annual family walk where you leave your worries behind by picking up a pile of leaves, sharing what your worry is about and then throwing them in the air as you walk away. As you continue forward, talk about all the things that are fantastic in your life and only stop when you need to pick up a new pile of leaves, describe a worry, throw them in the air and walk away.