It’s safe to say the kids LOVED dinner tonight. We ate at Panda Express as a reward for finishing a family challenge we have been doing for the last two weeks.
The challenge we did was really cool. It was an idea we got from a therapist. One of our children has a hard time understanding social cues and that translates into not understanding how to appropriately show or turn down affection. So we thought having the challenge be something the whole family could do together would help that child not feel so called out.
We discussed when and how it is appropriate to show affection or love for family memembers. Kind comments, hugs, high fives, kiss on the cheek, spending time, serving, etc. We also talked about that it is okay to tell someone you don’t want any affection right now and discussed proper ways to tell them. Once we were finished with the discussion we used a poster board and wrote each family member’s name on it, down one side. Then we told everyone that if we could each get twenty stars by our name in two weeks we would be able to have our reward (which we discussed.)
To get a star by your name you had to combine a sincere compliment, or an expression gratitude to someone with a form of physical touch (high five, fist bump, hug….what ever the situation called for)
It was really amazing to see how each child reacted to this challenge. Thatcher was ready to all 20 in a row and was so excited to give everyone hugs, kisses and compliments. Conner needed much more coaching, but he felt comfortable giving his siblings high fives and told them things he was grateful for. Charlotte just wanted to give the hugs and kisses and all the physical stuff but didn’t really get the compliments, grateful comments part of the challenge, she would usually just say I love you, (which was really cute.)
What really suprised me was how much Trever wanted to be involved. He mostly cared about “making stars.” He would drag the chair over to where the poster was hanging in the kitchen and beg for a marker. When we would tell him he need to give someone a hug and tell them something he liked about them he would hug the nearest person and say “eeese” which is his word for please.
As you can see from out poster he really loved “making stars.”
We liked the challenge so much we are going to try to expand it to friends, and teachers….not so much with the affection part but with the expression of gratitude and sincere compliments.
After our reward dinner we went to grab some baby wipes and a few other things at Target, it’s just across the parking lot. I drove the van over while everyone else walked with daddy. He is so popular.
Earlier in the day we dropped the boys at school and headed to the gym. Now that it is nice weather the boys can ride bikes or scooters to school which is awesome because then if the little ones are still napping when it’s time to get the boys from school, I don’t have to wake them up to go pick up the boys, they can just ride home. We didn’t have time to ride bikes this morning so I took their scooters in the back of the van and dropped them off in the back of the school so they could ride them home.
Trever has come a long way in being a happy boy at the stay-n-play at the gym while I am working out. He use to scream and cry when I would drop him off, but for the last week or so he has been waving bye bye to me and being happy. It is so great and I enjoy my workout so much more not being worried about whether or not he is still crying for me.
Today I did a yoga/Pilates class. We used the band things and I tried to take a pic of the exercise that was the killer for me, but it’s hard to tell what’s happening. You push against this thing with your legs so it won’t fall. then you keep your legs straight and try to make a circle as big as you can with your legs. The abs were screaming.
After the gym I picked up Char and her friend from preschool and we met some friends at a park. It’s so nice to finally have park weather. I hope you had a great Thursday, I would love to hear about it and what you had for dinner.
Keep it Real!
Maria
Today I went to long wood gardens with a friend since both of us have all our kids in school. It was fun to catch up we don’t see each much anymore and the tulips were gorgeous. I made sloppy joes for dinner by request from my husband and it was his birthday. Had cake & ice cream for dessert & his parents stopped by overall a really good day. I love the challenge you did as a family what a great idea.