It's Working!

Lately Braden has been very interested in taking part in conversations. In his little world right now, there are a lot of adults and we often enjoy conversing and laughing with one another. He has started recognizing this, and has wanted to be included in these exchanges. We will often hear him saying, "I have a really funny story". He'll then expect everyone to pay attention to him just like we would if a fellow adult had said something like that. I don't think this is wrong, and I love hearing what he comes up with. I think it's funny to have a three-year-old child that acts like a peer. But, sometimes other adults aren't very interested in hearing what he has to say (he's just a kid, after all (wink)). Well anyway, yesterday Esther was over and Braden told her that he had a great story. So, in Esther's usual manner, she turned her complete attention to him and said, "I want to hear your story, Braden." *Note: This is one of the qualities that has most endeared me to Esther. She doesn't just pretend to be interested in listening to children, she truly wants to hear what they have to say because she really cares about them. So, back to the story, Braden began by saying, "Once upon a time (as all stories begin, right?) there was a butterfly swimming on a leaf (? not really sure how that works). He was a righteous butterfly. He went to church and read the scriptures and was nice to his friends and made good choices." And the story went on... But that first part was just neat to me. I know it's silly, but to hear him making up a story about a butterfly who follows good principals really made me smile. Lately, I've been making a greater effort to surround my kids with good influences. I've decided to go a month without listening to my typical genres of music and replace them with calm instrumental music and primary songs. I wanted to see if it would make a difference in their life. I thought that it would also help Braden to be more involved during singing time at primary (church) if he knew the songs. Well, I guess I didn't realize how much the songs I play in the car impact them. This first week or so that I've been doing this, I've heard Braden singing new primary songs around the house. Jade is happier in the car. They are both more willing to listen. And I am a better mom, because by surrounding them with songs about the gospel, I've surrounded myself with that same sweet influence. So, when I heard Braden's story about the butterfly, it was further fruit of my labors (and his perceptiveness) and it had to make me smile. I think it's working!