7 Things I want my kids to learn.

These two are my children. They are so vivacious and they soak everything up like sponges. I know that all the things they will learn in this life won't always be things that I tell them. I have to SHOW them these things. These are 7 things, because 7 is the most magical number, that I want my kids to learn by WATCHING me.

1. Always say I love you...throw in Why as well.

EVERYONE needs to know that they are loved. I've never doubted the love my husband has for me, but it is VERY nice to hear why he loves me.

Remember when you are first dating and you are all twitterpated? You always say the things you love about the person. It's not just "I love you." It's, "I love your hair. I love the way your hand feels in mine. I love that you love Lord of the Rings...etc etc."

I had this thought the other day and started telling my four year old, Rory, WHY I loved him. His face was beaming! I made sure to pick the things he loved, like trucks and paw patrol, and said things like "I love you because you love playing with rocks. I love you because you're such a silly big brother etc."

This is something of vital importance in any relationship. Saying WHY you feel the way you do is just as important.

2. Search for the positive. Be Pollyanna.

I am going to refer to this often in my writing. Do you remember Pollyanna? The movie about that orphan girl who goes and makes a town better by showing them how to always be happy? No? Well it's fantastic, and also a tear jerker at parts. Growing up my mom would call me Pollyanna because I was so inherently positive. Becoming a mother, and growing up, I've lost some of my perky positivity. Some of that is due to the PPD I had after my first, and the rest is just from normal mom-fatigue. It's hard to find the positive when you're just so daggum tired.

When I was in the hospital having my baby, my mom watched Rory. He was VERY grumpy about not having all his family together. He wanted me and Millie home as soon as possible. But, with a c-section, I had to stay in the hospital for a few days. Anyway, my mom sent Rory outside with a shovel and said to dig till he found Mr. Grumpy. So, he went out, my mom put the hose on so it wouldn't be as hot, and Rory dug for Mr. Grumpy. Apparently he dug for hours. My mom would pop her head out and ask, "Have you found him yet?" Rory would reply "Nope. I'm still grumpy." My mom smiled and said, "Well, keep digging Mr. Grumpy is there somewhere and he wants his grumpiness back."

Guys...my mom is amazing!

Anyway, the point of the story is this: Maybe Pollyanna is buried in the dirt and you have to dig her out...but Pollyanna is there! Sometimes life is muddy and sticky and you just don't want to figure it out. BUT there is ALWAYS something to find to be happy about.

3. Serve in any way you can.

Service is something that I grew up learning about. And something that is vitally important. Not much needs to be said about this, except that I want my kids to know that service isn't always something that is big.

Often I see service as a big thing like helping someone redo their roof, or plant their garden. But service can be done multiple times a day in small ways. Putting away a toy. Giving a smile to a stranger. Hugging a friend who is sad. Kissing your sister's owie. Finding a beloved object that's lost. All of these small acts of service add up to a life well spent.

At the end of the day just ask, "Have I done any good in the world today?" If the answer is yes, then you've had a pretty great day!

4. Lean on Heavenly Father. He WILL help you.

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I mostly refer to God as my Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father is so aware of your life. He knows your struggles, joys, temptations, and he wants to help you. I want my children to see my reliance on Him in my life.

No matter the issue, turn to Heavenly Father in prayer, He WILL answer your prayer and He will help you.

5. If you don’t know about it, look it up.

As a student in the Education department, I was taught that if I didn't know the answer to a student's question to ask THEM to look it up and come back to class the next day to tell us what they learned. Or look it up then and there if possible. This bit of advice works withe parenting as well. I can't tell you how often I hear Rory being so frustrated with himself that he did know something.

Then we got an Alexa.

Now Rory asks Alexa everything. The most recent is "What is life?" I swear I'm not making that up. Alexa had a pretty good answer too.

I hope my children learn that it's okay to not know EVERYTHING as long as you're willing to learn.

6. You are unique...embrace it!

Each person on this earth is a beloved Child of God. Each of us has our own set of DNA. Each of us have different gifts, passions, talents--whatever you want to call it. If the world was full of the same person, think of how boring life would be.

Love what you love because YOU love it. No other reason is needed. AND love what you love with a fierce passion. Don't be timid about it.

If you love Lord of the Rings? by golly, get the leaves of Lothlorien engraved on your wedding ring--yes! I did do that.

If you love trucks? learn all you can about those things and get excited whenever you hear or see one.

7. Your body is a temple and a GIFT treat it like one!

This last one is one of the things that I struggle with the most personally. I have Insulin resistance, which means my body is a few tubs of ice cream away from pre-diabetes. I also have a gluten intolerance....and my happy food is bread.

Anyway, I am saying all my health woes because I have NOT been treating my body like I should. I know how I should, I've done it. I had gestational diabetes and controlled it with diet and exercise. I felt AMAZING! Then I was tired...and didn't want to cook right....and didn't want to move from the couch...as a result, I weigh the most now that I have ever weighed.

But...there is hope! A month ago, I decided to get back into eating right, and cut gluten out of my diet. I am also eating less sugar. I also joined a gym two weeks ago and am down five pounds already!

I hope by seeing this journey I am taking that my kids will see that their bodies are amazing things and they need to do everything they can to treat them with respect.

That's all my friends!

Be weird! Be you! Be wonderful!

#kids #tips #lifelessons