FHE by Max

Tonight for Family Home Evening, Max told Shayla and I that he was going to give the lesson. Not knowing what he had in mind for us, we willingly gave him a paper bag and a handful of marshmallows when he asked for them.

He then asked us all to sit in front of the couch, and then turned to Isla and said, "Come on Isla, you're part of the lesson." With a little encouragement Isla went and sat next to Max. As she did, he pulled one little marshmallow out of his paper bag, gave it to Isla and said, "This is our lesson about sharing". He then pulled out another marshmallow and popped it into his own mouth, and then gave one each to Shayla and I. As we were sitting there eating our marshmallows, Max continued to pull them out one by one, giving them to us as he did so, and then told us a little about sharing and how it is a nice thing to do.

After a few minutes, when all of the marshmallows had been shared and eaten, he said, "The next part of our lesson is about being nice. Dad, come here." I went over to where he was. "Here hold this". I took a basket of toys from him that he had picked up off the shelf. He then helped me turn the basket over, dumping all of the toys onto the floor. "Now we put them all away!" So Max, Isla, and I put the toys back in the basket as Max taught us about being nice and helping each other.

"Ok, now follow me." said Max as he turned and walked into our bedroom. "Now it is time for a nature hike in the dark. Let's get our flashlights." I immediately thought that our nature hike was going to take place in our room, which would probably be a pretty decent place for a nature hike, as I'm sure you could find all kinds of new specimens hiding out under the bed and behind the dressers! But then Max said, "Let's get our shoes and our jackets on". And then I knew he wasn't going on a nature hike in our room, he was going outside!

Normally I would be all for this, but at this moment in time, it was dark outside. The sun had already set (hence the flashlights), there was still about six inches of snow outside (meaning that a nature hike with kids would require not just shoes, but also socks, snowpants, coats, hats, and gloves), not to mention we are under a freezing rain warning for the DC area! Not exactly the type of weather I want to have for a nature hike.

I quickly put a halt to Max's lesson and instead, crushed his dreams by telling him that we would NOT be going out for a nature hike. He didn't seem to understand why, so I told him we could go on another hike when the snow has finally melted. I think he was okay with that. We ended with ice cream cones so I think he forgot all about his canceled nature hike anyway.

I have to say I was a bit impressed with his impromptu lesson. He might not know how to share with his sister on a daily basis, but at least he knows how to teach us about it!