Intentional Families

So Creating an Intentional Family is the first thing on my goal list for 2010. I am reading a great book (recommended by the awesome Jenny Martin) called: The Intentional Family by William Doherty and it is incredibly helpful. The book talks about the benefits of establishing family rituals and then details different types of rituals. The first chapter talks about meal times and for one of the examples it highlights a family that ritualized dinner time by setting the table, dimming the lights and lighting candles, and requiring all family members to stay at the table until dismissed by one of the parents. We tried it tonight and it was pretty good! The lower lighting seemed to help the kids to settle and it certainly created a nice ambiance. We told the kids before they sat down what the rules would be, so they were not suprised when we stayed at the table after the food was eaten. I read a few verses in the Book of Mormon and we had family prayer before we dismissed. Max was wiggly but the other kids did great! Ernie took a picture of our first candlelit dinner:

The other thing I would mention is that today I realized that the hard labor aspect of motherhood is getting a little easier. Today we had to clean the house because Ernie's parents are coming to visit tomorrow (since I only really clean when people come over) and miracle of miracles, I was not exhausted!! I couldn't figure it out until I realized that I have finally got Ernie trained properly (love you Ernie!) and the kids are finally old enough to provide actual (instead of symbolic) help. Totally awesome! I truly never thought today would come.

One last thing. I have to brag on Ernie:) He saw my pitiful necklace/bracelet situation (i.e. they were all tangled up in a giant ball of jewelry) and so he went out to the garage and in 2 days made this for me. He mounted it in the closet tonight. Love that man!