Pretend Social Distancing

Vienna was playing Optometrist the other day and drew this sign for her front desk:

It’s a “stay 6 feet apart from others” sign. The kids are really taking all this social distancing to heart. Vienna requested that I help her make coronavirus masks for her American dolls a week ago and today she and Felicity made masks out of felt and string for their barbies. I hope this ends soon, before they just think everyone wearing masks is normal.

The Barefeet Rescue

Today I brought Vienna and Felicity with me to Walmart. When we got there, Felicity realized that she had forgotten to bring any shoes. I was annoyed and said, “we’ll, we’re not going home. You’ll have to ride in the basket.” She immediately started to cry out of embarrassment and frustration. I got a cart, put her in the back and she started to cry louder. I told she should stop crying because it would bring more attention to her and then more people would notice her barefeet. That did not entice her to calm down. We got in the store and she was still fussing. Vienna tried to tell her it was alright, that she could cover her feet with my purse, etc. Then sweet, empathetic Vienna realized on her own that Felicity was really crying because she had to sit in the basket. Vienna said, “do you want me to sit in the basket with you?” Felicity nodded and immediately stopped crying. Vienna climbed in and was a good sport the whole time, saying that riding in the basket was better because you didn’t have to walk. I know Vienna really doesn’t like to ride on the basket; it really embarrasses her since she is already 8 years old. Yet, in order to help her sister, she gave up her pride and joined Felicity. What am impressive display of love. She is teaching me all the time what it means to Christlike!

FHE gets real

Tonight for FHE I taught a lesson on repentance. I used an object lesson from the Friend. I poured salt on a plate, representing our souls. Then a sprinkled on some pepper, representing our sins.

After rubbing the back of a plastic spoon on a paper towel, I hovered it over the plate and The peppered jumped up to cling to the spoon, leaving just the salt behind. That represented Jesus and his ability to forgive and wash away sins. Then the kids all wanted a turn to pour the pepper and use the spoon. I let Vienna shake out some pepper, but Felicity was very upset that she didn’t get to do the pepper part. I told her it to grab the pepper because the lid was loose. In an effort to show us all what sin looks like, she disobeyed and yanked the pepper container away from her sister. She ran off with it to the kitchen where the loose lid did fly off and Felicity accidentally dumped out the entire container of pepper. That resulted in wailing sobs and angry yells from her siblings. We then ended our lesson in a bit of a foul mood with a reminder that we should obey our parents. Felicity gave us a very real life demonstration of the need for repentance!