Family Home Evening

Last night was family night. We had a simple lesson "keep the commandments". We started with Joseph offering a little prayer, and then all of us singing together the hymn (keep the commandments). The boys did good following along. We talked for a minute about how much we loved them when they were first born, how we wanted them to grow up and be safe & happy. When they were little toddlers we had simple rules that we had to enforce to protect them, like Dont go in the street, cant play with something dangerous, no climbing high, etc. Now as they grow older, they have to make some of their own choices to keep themselves safe & happy. Behavior becomes more important as we grow, following the rules of kindness, using manners, in order to be happy. So we talked about that kind of thing for a few minutes, then Anthony read them a cute story about a mother bear protecting her cubs by training them to listen to her warning when danger was near. She had taught them to climb the tree if she gave a signal, so that when a cougar came, they could be out of harm's way while she fought. It was a simple story, on their level so they could understand easily. Joseph said, "oh, so we need to listen to mom when she gives warnings." After the discussion part, we did a little activity about following direction and keeping the rules by playing a "look for the next clue" hunt. Joseph did so good reading the clues, I was totally impressed. Even big words like "attitude" "office" and "circles". He didn't have to sound them out, he just read them! Anyway, each clue lead to the next one, but each had specific things they had to do along the way. Like "Do jumping jacks down the hallway to the office", "Spin around in circles as you walk to mommy & daddy's room" "Hop and clap all the way to the kitchen, then look under the sink" and "Crawl into your bedroom then look in the drawers". They followed each instruction exactly and giggled all the way. They loved it! but some of the directions they read weren't so easy or fun. The clue they found under the sink read "Help mom do the dishes. And remember to have a good attitude. Then look under the piano for the next clue." They wanted to go straight to that piano so bad! They didn't want to wait, especially to do boring dishes. They were excited to get the prize. But I reminded them (as they were inching their way towards the piano) that if they didn't follow the rules, even the boring or hard ones, they wouldn't receive the prize/happy ending. So they said, "Oh yeah!" and cheerfully helped me unload and load the dishwasher. It was adorable. They had great attitudes. Once the clean dishes were put away, dirty ones cleared, rinsed and loaded, and soap put in & buttons pushed, they ran to the next clue. There was one more clue that had instructions that weren't so fun. "Go get ready for bed. Put on your jammies, brush your teeth, then find the last one on daddy's lap in the living room." They raced and got ready for bed, and then found the prize with dad: our family night treat (crunch bar icecream bars) with Happy in Heaven written on this last notecard. I think they really got the message, because it was simple and fun. Follow the directions even if they're not what you want to do, and avoid the temptation to skip some rules/pick and choose which instruction you want to obey, and you will win the prize.
Anyway, I enjoyed it. They were so cute and they are so smart. I like seeing them learn important concepts and understand basic gospel principles at such a young age.