Mother's Day

My mom came over earlier in the week help the kids make their mom a little gift...

They all presented them to Paige this morning.

And then I think she got the best Mother's Day gift of all... they all walked nicely into Sunday school. No fussing, no crying, no running, no hiding. Gave her a kiss and walked right in.

Our newest strategy was to give them each three quarters, and put them in their pocket so they jingled. Then told them they were their "Quarters of Courage." When they heard them jingle, it was to remind them to have courage going to Sunday school. And if they did, we would stop at a store on the way home and they could use the quarters to buy a donut. Levi thought the donut sounded good, but still wasn't convinced about Sunday school. "I will have courage, but I still won't have fun at church" he grumped.

Call it bribing if you want. I prefer "classical conditioning." Pavlov trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. If we can train our three year olds to salivate at jingle of some "courage quarters"... well, let's just say it makes Sunday mornings vastly more pleasant for all of us.

And come to think of it, Levi didn't actually walk into Sunday school. He ran. He had to back up, get a running start, and then stop right at the door to see if he could hear his quarters jingle.

And when we picked him up? "I did have fun in church mom!!!"

So how did we celebrate Mother's Day? How else?

Happy Mother's Day, to the best wife I could ever have... ;)