Anna, stop

I witnessed a great benefit to our training time today! We were leaving the church and Anna started to run outside towards the parking lot. There were no cars coming but I didn't like the idea of her just taking off and I knew that we had been practicing our "stop / sit down" game during training time so I called out "Anna, stop". And she did! She didn't move another foot! I was so impressed to see how our fun training times carrying through to practical application. Which reminded me that it is a good idea to still practice our training tools outside of the home as well! Like today, Anna was in no immediate danger of running out into the parking lot since there were no cars, but by calling "Anna, stop" reinforces obedience and the tools practiced at home.

I also witness the need to continue with our training especially the area with self control. We had craft time at the church today and Owen was just running around and singing loudly and just well, being a boy! I actually had to have him sit out in the hallway (our door was open and I could still see/hear him) until he had self control. I gave him a few opportunities to rejoin the group but he continued to demonstrate lack of self control so he remained out in the hall for the rest of the hour we were doing our crafts. Remembering that isolation is not correction, when we came home I told him that during nap time today he would have to be lay quiet in his bed vs reading his books like he typically does during quiet time and also that he would not be allowed to watch his Christmas Special after dinner tonight. He actually took a nap today and was a better adjusted kid afterwards -- which we moms need to remember that tired kids tend to be out of control kids...

Have a great weekend everyone! Next week I'll share some new pages I'm working on "Liar, Liar" and "Light of the World"...