Last week, Emma got in trouble for tackling her brother. Every now and then, she just takes the little guy down. Or she tries to hold him and falls over backwards, so he's on top of her kicking and flailing about. I have been warning her one day he might retaliate. Anyway, the other day I heard a "thunk" and then a wail. She had pushed him over and was sitting on him again!! I told her she could not do that to her brother and the next time would mean time out in her room. A few minutes later it happened again. So, I swiftly removed her from the situation and we headed downstairs for time out. On the way down she looked at me and said, "I'm not a bad girl, Mom." Wow! It kind of hit me. And I realized I needed to explain again that no she wasn't a bad girl, but she was displaying "bad behavior" that wasn't acceptable. I reassured her over and over that we love her no matter what she does, but that we do not like some of her behaviors. Sometimes when she gets in trouble she says, "But, I'm a girl." As if girls don't get in trouble or something. I usually have to chuckle at that one. But the situation was a gentle reminder that I need to separate good/bad behaviors with the great little person I'm trying to raise. I want our kids to know that they will always be loved and it is not tied to what they do/don't do. Of course, it is always more fun when children behave, but we love them through the icky times too.
It's the same way with our heavenly father. He loves me no matter what-even when I am not being the person he's created me to be-loving, kind, patient....etc. It's not about "being good", but about accepting our Savior and living for him.
And fortunately, Little J is tough and doesn't really get hurt. And Emma and I both had some gentle reminders about love and forgiveness.
Family meeting-this was MJ's idea. She told me the other night she wants to have a family meeting. A time for us to sit down together as a family and talk about our week, what we'll be during, what we've done, how things are going, etc. Wow! I think it's great and I love that she's the one who's initiating it. I'll have to report back and let you know how it goes.
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