You’ve heard people say it and you’ve probably said it yourself, “When I’m a parent, my kids will never do so-and-so.” And if you said it, you really believed it. I was a Children’s Pastor for several years and I said that sentence so many times it’s embarrassing! I have always been able to clearly see why and how parents were missing the mark with their kids. The problem is, I don’t think you can always see those same mistakes in yourself. Or maybe it’s just harder to discipline the little darlings that are your own flesh and blood.

These past few weeks and months I have felt like I am the worst parent in the world. And I do not say that as hyperbole. All the roads I thought were leading to obedience and responsiveness in my children were doing the exact opposite.

I finally picked up a recording of a radio interview with Dr. Kevin Leman based on his book, Have a New Kid by Friday. The second I was finished with the CD,  I gave it to my husband and made him listen to it. Then I borrowed the book from the library and read it in one day.

Cover via Amazon

I started to put these ideas into practice in our home and I have already seen a huge difference. My kids are more responsive, I feel more in control and the underlying struggle, drama and emotion has been diminished. Dr. Leman’s main idea is “reality discipline”. It’s letting your actions speak louder than your warnings, spankings and lectures.

I was just going to share one or two of my favorite tips from Dr. Leman’s book but as I was writing the post got to be so long, I thought it might be fun to do a play-by-play of the book. Then we could unpack one chapter each day…just like the book suggests. What do you think? Wanna play?

Next Monday, July 19th we’ll start a week long series tackling some of the issues in Dr. Leman’s book. I’ll give you some of my favorite parts. Then we can discuss in our forum how this practically works for our families.

If you’d like to get the book before we start discussing it, I found it at the Family Christian Store this weekend for only $5. (On their website, too!) The audio is only $7.98 on ChristianAudio.com. Or you can always try the library, that’s where I read it to begin with!

I’m looking forward to talking to you about this. Parenting is not for the weak. And it’s certainly not for the solitary. I need people to help me and I’d love to talk with you about this book and these principles!

photo by mdany

You might remember that I have an author-reader crush on author Sally Lloyd Jones. She is the author of THE BEST BOOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD: The Jesus Storybook Bible. She also authors several other Bible story books one of which is Tiny Bear’s Bible. My son got this as a baby present (or I got it as a shower present, whatever.) and I really love the short Bible story poems with a personal application at the end. And Asa likes it because…well, look:

Sally Lloyd Jones has a new baby Bible storybook out called (are you ready for this?) Baby’s Hug-a-Bible. Yep, a huggable Bible:

(oh, you can’t tell from this picture–it’s furry!)

However, beneath the funny fur is a really sweet (and very practical) Bible story book. Each story is laid out in questions like, this one about Moses:

Who saved a baby in a boat?

Who kept that baby’s boat afloat? …

Who cares for you in just that way?

And gives you all you need today?

Yes, God’s the one who, day by day,

Will care for you in every way!

For babies (and toddlers and preschoolers), this kind of story is perfect—the rhyme, the questions and the most important: THE PROMISES! I love hearing stories that show God’s promises to be true. I’d love to plant this whole idea in Asa’s head NOW so he will remember it always!

And can I tell you something else that might sound weird? When I was in college I interned at a church that had one of the premiere children’s ministries in the country. In their nursery department they introduced the Bible by singing the B-I-B-L-E and by helping the kids hug the Bible.

Can I just say that there is nothing cuter than watching a toddler see a Bible, pick it up and hug it. Since we’ve had this Hug-a-Bible, I’ve been making helping Asa hug it. And he does! Oh, with a fierceness! But can I tell you something? He loves this book. Are there any other books we hug? He knows that we think this book is special because we hug it. And that’s what I want. I want him to know the Bible is the most special, the most important book in his life.

I’m not suggesting that hugging a Bible will make your kids love God. I’m just all about introducing kids to God on their level. And right now, the Hug-a-Bible is showing my 18 month old son how important the Bible is!

For more fun book recommendations visit The Adventure of Motherhood’s Feed Me Books Friday! Also linked to The Other Mama’s Friday Favorites, & Read Aloud Thursday at Hope is the Word.

Disclosure: I asked to review this book. I was given the book to facilitate that review.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, I have been trying to choose books about love for my daughter, Juliet, and I to read together each night. I want her to know how deeply and unconditionally I love her and also how God’s love for her far surpasses my own great love.

As I looked at our shelves the other night, The Runaway Bunnyby Margaret Wise Brown jumped out at me. “That’s perfect!” I thought to myself. We’ve read this book a million times before, but we’ve never had a conversation about how God loves us as unwaveringly and as fiercely as the mother bunny loves her little bunny.

If you’ve never read the book, it begins like this:

“Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, “I am running away.” “If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.”

“If you run after me,” said the little bunny, “I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you.” If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother, “I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”

The story continues in this way with the little bunny coming up with another and yet another thing to turn into and his mother responding with how she will chase after him and find him NO MATTER WHAT. It’s a beautiful story of unconditional love.

As I thought about the picture of love presented in this book, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the love stories of the Bible such as the book of Hosea, the story of the prodigal son, and the greatest love story of all: Jesus coming to earth and becoming human just because He loved us so much. No matter how far we ran from him, and no matter what we became, He was willing to leave heaven behind and give up His life because we are His children and He loves us.

I thought to myself, “This is going to be great! We’re going to read a great book together AND have a meaningful spiritual conversation!”

It didn’t exactly turn out that way. Here’s what happened:

As we began reading the story together, Juliet asked me, “Mommy, why is that bunny running away? and I said, “Why do you think he is running away?” and she said, “To join the circus!” (Towards the end of the book, the bunny tells his mother he will join the circus.)

I took this moment to tell her that I was like the mother bunny and that if she ever ran away, I would always go after her because she was my little bunny. She just sort of nodded and then we continued reading.

A few pages later, Juliet suddenly jumped up, and exclaimed, “I’m the little bunny!” and ran away. I put the book down and proceeded to chase her down the hall and tackle her in my room.

I again reminded her that I would always catch her because she was my little bunny. She smiled, giggled, and then announced, “I’m a butterfly, I’m going to fly away from you!” and ran down the hall. I responded with, “I’m a net and I will catch you!”

We played this spontaneous little game over and over again—she was a little bird; I was a nest. She was a lady bug; I was a little girl with a bug-catcher. She was a roley poley, and I was a pile of dirt. Again and again, she ran away from me, and again and again I caught her.

Then we sat down, finished reading the book, and got ready for bed. As I tucked her in, I said, “God is like the mother bunny, too. No matter what you do, no matter how far you run away from Him, He will always come after you because you are His little bunny and He loves you.”

And she said, “Hey. You have hair in your nose.”

So maybe we didn’t get the meaningful spiritual conversation in, (we did have a discussion about the benefits and purposes of nose hair) but we did make some memories and invented a fun, new game! Even though she wasn’t really ready to talk about God’s love for her, I think the seed was planted.

And like that mother bunny, I’ll keep chasing her down and telling her tirelessly about God’s love, over and over again. And the best part is, I don’t have to do it on my own. He won’t stop His pursuit of her either.

Vanessa is a regular contributor to Impress Your Kids. She is a stay-at-home mom to an energetic three-year-old, Juliet. They spend their days together reading books, attempting crafts, and occasionally beating tree trunks with large sticks. You can read more about their adventures at Silly Eagle Books.

Today Asa pulled a blanked into the bathroom as I was brushing Lydia’s teeth. She thought this was quite funny and said, “Mommy! How does a blanket get into a bathroom if no one is carrying it?”

Me: I don’t know.

Lydia: It rides on top of someone! *bursts into laughter*

This hilarious joke began a whole slew of jokes following this same formula. “How does a panda get into a closet if no one is carrying him…how does a chicken get into a store…how does a cow get into a farm?” She giggled and guffawed for twenty minutes.

I honestly was hoping she’d never discover jokes because for whatever reason kids LOVE to make up jokes. And repeat them. Over and over again. But this joke was actually kind of (KIND OF) funny because she got it from a book called Miss Hunnicutt’s Hat.

My friend Becky bought me this book at her school’s book fair because Hunnicutt is my maiden name (TMI for the internet? Oh well, it’s on my facebook page…). And lucky for us, it turns out to be an adorable book regardless of the name! The illustrations are whimsical, funny and very detailed—you could look at them for days!

The story is what sparked my Lydia’s funny bone: Miss Hunnicutt is just a normal woman who decides to be very UN-normal one day. On the day the Queen is to visit her little town of Littleton, Miss Hunnicutt decides to wear a chicken on her hat. It causes quite a fuss as the entire town thinks she should remove it before the Queen comes to visit. Hilarity ensues as Miss Hunnicutt stands her ground. But what happens when the Queen stops to look at Miss Hunnicutt’s hat?

We haven’t read the book in months, so today when I got to the final page, Lydia laughed out loud at the ending! She thought it was hilarious. And it was still on her mind a few minutes later when she made up her “it rides on top of someone” punchline. Thanks to Miss Hunnicutt for letting her chickens ride on her head!

He will fill your mouth with laughter. Shouts of joy will come from your lips. Job 8:22

PS: I found this cute online joke booklet from Clubhouse Magazine. In case you want your kids to know some actual jokes: Lots O’ Laughs.

photo by malenga

I was not born with a concise spirit.  Truth be told, I like to ramble.  Especially when it’s a subject I love, or when I’m trying to explain something to my children…

Which is why I really appreciate God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Christmas, both children’s books by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  Both handle big subjects with grace – grace I wish I had when I spoke to my children about them!

God Gave Us Love is a sweet book that has a little bear named Little Cub learning about love from her Grandfather – God’s love, family love, even love for those you don’t really want to love.  It has some great explanations about love, which I personally think is hard – because love is such a big subject.  The book does jump around a little bit (there’s not a long story or narrative, but how it gets from one explanation to the next is a little jumpy sometimes), but it still does a great job sharing with children about God’s love and how to apply it in our lives.

God Gave Us Christmas was the book Elias asked for again – and it was a joy for me to re-read it to him!  This book clearly points everything about Christmas back to God (and it doesn’t ignore or “ruin” Santa for those who choose to include him in their Christmas celebrations – we don’t, but Elias asks questions about Santa, and the book gave us another chance to talk about the character of Santa in Christmas celebrations today).  In this book, Little Cub and her mom go looking for God, and find Him everywhere!  The descriptions and explanations are fabulous in this book – my favorite of the two!

And here’s my disclaimer: these books were provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, but the opinions I shared are completely my own.

Now on to the fun part!  You can win a copy of God Gave Us Christmas just in time for Christmas – share this beautiful story with a little one in your life!  I am also planning to add a little handmade goodie or two into the box as I send it off… I’m just not sure exactly what yet, though…

To enter, leave us a comment on this post letting us know your favorite way to celebrate Advent… and for additional entries you can:

• Tweet about this giveaway (include @impressyourkids in your tweet – is that what it’s called?).
• Follow us on Twitter.
• Become a fan of ours on Facebook.
• Link to this giveaway on your own blog.

Leave a separate comment for each one you do, and on Wednesday, December 9th, we’ll randomly draw a winner from all entries received.

Are you enjoying our Advent activities?  Check them out – we’re having a lot of fun doing them!

I found the best Thanksgiving book at the library this year! It’s called Over the River and Thro’ the Woods. There are many different versions of this book but NONE are as adorable as this one illustrated by Normand Chartier.

Does this title sound familiar? That’s because you probably sing it every CHRISTMAS! But guess what? It’s really a Thanksgiving poem!

Once I read it, I knew I had to own it. I was tempted to “accidentally” forget to return the book to the library. But instead, I got it from one of Amazon’s partner sellers for $3. It’s in our bookstore now! Is it not super adorable?!

“I will praise God’s name by singing to him. I will bring him glory by giving him thanks.” Psalm 69:30 NIrV

We rarely go to McDonald’s. Ever since I saw Super Size Me I can’t swallow a Chicken McNugget to save my life. So, it makes me smile when Lydia calls it, “Old McDonald’s”. I’m loving that Lydia is so verbal–sometimes I forget she’s only 3. Until she busts out with one of those cute Lydia-isms.

Another one of my favorites is when she gets on her rocking horse or is going to run and she says, “I’m going to be fast as a LIGHTNING BUG!” Ahh, this makes me laugh every time.

This week, I experienced a new funny phrase from her. Asa is not walking yet but is crawling and climbing everywhere. A few days ago, he cleared off Lydia’s baby doll bed and crawled right in the middle of it. Lydia and I laughed and laughed as he sat and giggled on the bed. Finally Lydia shouted, “Asa! You are hilarious and hairy!” then fell on the floor laughing hysterically and even snorting a little.

I could not stop laughing and snickered the rest of the day. I could not figure out where she got that phrase, “hilarious and hairy”?!

Then yesterday I read Mem Fox’s Hello Baby!to Asa before bed. I bought this book for Asa’s birthday. It’s a sweet book that begins with the author asking, “Hello, baby. Who are you?” Then she introduces several fun animals and their unique qualities (like a gecko with a rolling eye). It ends by discovering that the baby is not an animal but instead, “my treasure”. The first time I read it, I thought, “Oh, this is cute.” But the more we read it, the more I like it. It’s a wonderful bedtime book because of the charming ending. Plus the illustrations are kind of Eric Carle-ish but more earthy and textured. It’s one of our new favorites.

Anyway, one of the animals in the book is a warthog—HILARIOUS and HAIRY. Lydia had been quoting the book to Asa! I asked her about it and she knew she was quoting the book, “That’s where I got it!” But I didn’t make the connection for days!

This really got me thinking about her little mind. She can memorize things in a second. She can remember everything I say on the phone to my husband. She can remember songs from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She can remember a phrase from a book and then use it in a conversation (even though it may not be quite the right fit!).

Am I saying things that are worthy of mimicking? Am I reading things to her that are worthy of imitation? Are we watching and listening to words that are worthy of memorization?

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in your eyes. You are my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NIrV

I finally caught up with Amanda and read the Mrs. Rosey Posey books – and I’m so glad I got the chance to read them!  The books are full of wonderful Biblical truths – all simply explained – and lovely to read.  I’m a Robin Jones Gunn groupie now, too!  If you didn’t win copies of the books in our giveaway, please go and find copies someplace.  Fabulous!

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I love making food from scratch for my family – and I love it even more when it turns out to be delicious and easy!  A friend shared this recipe with me for granola bars… super easy and absolutely fabulous! Great for substitutions – just be sure the volume of dry ingredients remains the same with anything that is subbed in.  Also a great recipe to let the kids help with!

Granola Bars

• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup milled flax seeds

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Warm condensed milk in microwave (optional – I never do this). Mix all dry ingredients together; add condensed milk and fold together with spatula. Spread mixture into a greased 13″x9″ pan. Press lightly with hand or spatula. Bake 1 hour – remove and let cool 3 minutes. Cut into bars. When completely cooled, wrap bars for goodness on the go!

Other awesome combos = chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and cashews; butterscotch chips and sunflower seeds.

ENJOY!