Win a Date with Mom!

Countdown to Valentine’s Day: Day 14!

The countdown to one of my favorite holidays has finally begun! As you know, I hold off on the Valentine decor until February, but now it’s here, so it’s going out today. If you’re as big a fan of Valentine’s Day as I am, stop by each day & I’ll show you what I’m doing to celebrate at our house. Can’t wait to see what everyone else is doing this month as well!

My kids love Valentine’s Day as much as I do because I’ve made it a big deal in our house ever since they can remember. And to kick off February this year, I’ve brought back one of our favorite events. I call it “Win a Date with Mom.” I wrote about this on my old blog, & several people gave it a try themselves & had a lot of fun. I usually do this 2 or 3 times a year. It really comes in handy during the summer or when we’ve had a few snow days when we’ve been spending a lot of family time together, which is the case for us now. It’s basically a contest to see who can do their best in a given area. In our house, it’s usually centered around getting along with each other or taking initiative in helping around the house. I announce to the kids that the contest is beginning & give them the date that it will end. I usually let it run for about 2 weeks. I explain to them what qualities I am watching for in each person, and the person who has best shown those qualities throughout the contest will be the winner, winning a date with mom to the restaurant that the winner chooses. Some people call this bribery. I call it a highly effective tool in helping them learn to control their actions. My best friend is currently in the middle of one of these contests & she is going with a point system, so that the kids can see their progress. I like to keep it all a surprise, occasionally pointing out when someone is doing a great job. Our contest this time has a specific theme, which I chose to correspond with a passage of scripture we are memorizing together (again).We’re doing Ephesians 4:29-32:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.