Hot Air

In preparing for our Sunday School/Primary lesson last Sunday I felt strongly that we needed to talk about the forgiveness section of the material. Our reading for the week taught that God will forgive as often as we repent and that we need to forgive as well. This is something our fiery, justice-loving bunch needs to keep relearning.

I brainstormed and internet-searched for a good object lesson. I came across several that would have been fine, but wouldn't quite communicate what I wanted to teach. Then, shortly before we were supposed to start church, I found an object lesson that sparked another idea.

After we had had a good discussion about the chapters that we read last week, which included forgiveness, I pulled out a balloon that hadn't yet been inflated. I asked them what happens when we choose not to forgive. They said your heart would get hard and you would be grumpy and you wouldn't hear the Spirit. I told them that was all true.

Then I started to blow up the balloon.

When it was still fairly small I told them that not forgiving is called holding a grudge, and that when we hold a grudge we give space in our heart and our thoughts for whatever has hurt us. Sometimes the grudge is small, but the more attention we give it, the bigger it gets, and the more space it takes up. I said that when we decide not to forgive we put energy into the grudge.

Then I blew the balloon up even more.

I kept blowing and blowing until it was really big. I told them that we have a few choices when someone is unkind to us. My original goal to demonstrate the first option had been to blow it up until it popped, but as I got closer and closer to that point everyone (Bryan included) got really anxious. So, instead of popping it, I talked about what it would be like if the balloon did pop, how shocking and messy it would be. Then I said that sometimes we give so much space to the grudge that our feelings pop like a balloon and we lash out at whoever happens to be closest to us whether or not it's the person that caused us the pain in the first place. We talked about a few real life examples where that's happened in our own house. And we all agreed that we didn't like that solution.

The second option required Peter's help. I'm not good at getting balloons to make that high pitched squeaking sound that happens when you let the air out slowly, but Peter is a pro. That's how this picture that I shared on Monday came to be.

I said that you can decide to forgive, but then keep complaining about the wrong that happened to you to everyone around you. It's like the balloon letting out a little air at a time. It'll finally deflate, but it's pretty painful for everyone around you while it's happening. The kids thought this was hilarious. I had warned Bryan that the lesson was going to get loud, so he removed himself to another part of the house for that bit of teaching.

I retrieved the balloon back from Peter and I blew it back up to its full size. Then I said that a third option would be to just let go of the grudge or the hurt and forgive. And with that I let go of the balloon and the kids squealed with delight as it zipped around the room, growing smaller and smaller as it flew. 

Then I handed out balloons to all but Topher and I told everyone to blow up their balloon but to not tie it off. Almost everyone followed the directions and the one that didn't handed their full balloon to Topher to enjoy while they tried again with a new balloon.

I instructed them to think of something they were upset about, something maybe they hadn't been fully forgiving over. Then I told them that when they let go of the balloon they would let go of the hurt. And they did. Our balloons went flying.

Until I taught the lesson I wasn't sure what I was going to say about forgiveness, just that it was important. But it's true. We can choose to feed the beast of hurt, the grudge monster, by focusing on it and filling our minds and hearts with it, like a balloon filling with air. We can complain loudly about it, and slowly get over it, and sometimes the hurt is so big and so deep that we have to use this approach to work through all the pain and confusion we've experienced. But sometimes, often, we have the opportunity to take that offense and simply let it go. I'm going to try to make this last choice more often.

And I Would Walk 500 Miles

We've been walking around the neighborhood almost everyday. About three quarters of the way through our walk yesterday, Topher ran out of steam. His solution? To lie down on the sidewalk to rest.

Also, Sophie likes to carry her shoes instead of wear them.

Doorman

We found a visitor sunning itself on the prickly bush right outside our front door.

We opted to leave through the garage for our walk so as not to disturb our guest.

Quarantine Week Ten: The Pictures

All Dressed Up

As part of the virtual dance recital that we're participating in this year, each family was asked to take a picture of their dancer in full hair, makeup, and costume to submit for a compilation class photo. They are due today, so we took ours this week, Sophie on Wednesday and Phoebe yesterday. 

The good news is that neither girl likes wearing makeup. Well, I think that's good news, though it does make the process of getting them ready rather unpleasant. The not so good news is that I'm still not great at hair. It had been so long since I'd tried to do the dutch braids required for Phoebe's class that I was halfway through the second braid before I realized I'd done french braids instead. Phoebe was not pleased. Neither was I. It took nearly an hour to do two dutch braids, including the unintentional french braids. Thankfully Sophie's hair was much simpler with two high ponytails.

Sophie's costume is so perfect for her personality, shimmery and pink and full of pizzazz. And Phoebe was thrilled to get her very own clip-on earrings to wear with her costume.

Here are our contributions:

New Words

I discovered this week that Topher has a new exclamation of surprise. I heard him utter it when he accidentally walked into the corner of a wall, and again when one of the older kids did something loud. Want to know what the phrase is?

"What the?"

He never puts another word on the end, just "what the?" But his inflection is perfect, so it sounds like he's using it correctly. And it's pretty hilarious.

For the record, this phrase was not learned from either parent, but from a very tall older sibling.

A Public Service Announcement

If you're ever in the position of making a batch of crepes for dinner (a recipe that you've multiplied by six this time, because the people at your house really love crepes), be mindful about which burner you turn on, especially when all that batter is in your biggest plastic bowl that you use several times a week.

Otherwise, a few minutes after pouring the first two crepes into your two hot skillets you might look at the small skillet on the back burner and wonder why the crepe appears to not be getting any darker.

And then your eyes might fly up to the little orange indicator above the burner dial, at which point you'll see that the back burner light is off, while the front burner light is on.

Then, as your brain begins to understand what's happening, you might reach for that great big plastic bowl and two things will happen at the same time: you'll notice that the batter in the bowl is beginning to bubble and you'll attempt to rip the bowl away from the offending burner.

Alas, you will be too late.

It is at this point that you'll watch a dozen eggs, nine cups of milk, six cups of flour, and a little oil and salt pour from what used to be the solid bottom of your bowl, thereby covering your glass stove top (plus some of the floor) with what was supposed to be dinner.

If this happens, it's okay to take pictures.

And cry.

It's also okay to let your husband and oldest child begin the cleanup process while you do something else, like possibly comfort a child crying over a completely unrelated issue. 

If you ever find yourself in this position, it's okay to eat cereal or leftovers or something else for dinner while you mourn the loss of several hard to come by food items and that poor melted bowl.

But it's also acceptable to decide to show your kids that you can get back on the metaphorical horse and, after everything is thoroughly scrubbed clean, make another batch (times six) of crepes, this time in a sturdy metal bowl and with the correct burner engaged.

What a Wonderful World

For art last week the girls needed to use the medium of their choice to create their perfect world. Sophie used her toys.

Phoebe used paper and markers.

Quarantine Week Nine: The Pictures

Happy Friday

We made it to the end of another school week. That is worth celebrating! My gift to you is this adorable picture of this darling boy.