June 8, 2013 by Allison Hendrix

A Humorous Approach to Table Manners – the pig who saved dinner

We have a pig. Yup, smack dab in the center of our dinner table is a pig. He’s been there for a few years and is responsible for bringing back PEACE to our family dinners. Here’s how it happened.

I wanted that dinner table with a hot, healthy meal and a loving family gathered around. My husband would ask grace and then my well-mannered children would pass around the plates of food as we chatted about our day. Yeah, NOT! During one exasperated dinner when my sons repeatedly burped during the prayer and then peas were thrown in protest to somebody chewing with their mouth open, I had had enough! My dinner table was completely filled with correction not conversation. It was not fun for anybody!

In my desperation for sanity, I grabbed a rubber pig from the top of the toy bin and began a rant about how they were behaving like 3 little pigs. Their mamma fear turned into belly laughter as I laid down the new law of dinner time. boys

If you burp, toot, or make an inappropriate bodily noise, You get the Pig!
Every time you have a sharp tone or rude words, you get the Pig!
If you chew with your mouth open, or…try to throw food into somebody else’s mouth while it’s open, you get the PIG!
Napkin in your lap, not on top of your sister’s head or else, PIG!
Rocking in your chair, getting our of your chair, falling out of your chair, PIG!
The pig will move from person to person as laws are broken.
Whoever ends up with the pig at the end of dinner does everybody’s dishes.

I felt better and they were roaring in laughter. This was our new dinner standard. Still is. It’s not your regular chalkboard saying “In this family, we love…we forgive…we say please and thank you.” But it’s ours.

The dinner table is no longer a place of constant correction, we just pass the pig. The behavior that used to bring dissention to our meal, now has brought laughter… and with that, joy…and a table I want to sit at.

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May 30, 2013 by Allison Hendrix

Gleaning Blueberries for the Homeless

My family needs a lot of practice when it comes to serving others. It is something we each love to do but it often times does not come naturally. So over the summer we look for intentional ways to have fun while helping others in our community. One of our favorite ways to do this is by gleaning fields for the homeless.

If you recall the Old Testament story of Ruth and Boaz you may be familiar with gleaning. The wealthy Boaz felt compassion for a widow named Ruth and allowed her to glean his fields after they had been harvested. This generosity still exists today.

There is a national organization called Society of St. Andrew (www.EndHunger.org) from which people of all faiths, civil organizations, and groups volunteer to help alleviate hunger through gleaning the fields of America. There are roughly 40 million Americans hungry and the USDA estimates that around 25% of American crops are never made available for people to eat. Much of that uneaten food is left in the fields after harvest.

Farms across America have been offering up these leftover crops for volunteer gleaners to come and pick. The crops are then given to the homeless and hungry. Our family has gleaned corn and citrus but today was all about blueberries!!! Gleaning blueberries for the Homeless

We rolled out of bed and had an impromptu desire to go gleaning. You can sign up here for an email listing of local gleaning opportunities in your area. There was a 2 day blueberry project about 30 minutes away with our name on it.

We picked, ate, and compared buckets.

(and yes, Palmer currently wears this hat at ALL times…and Campbell is in Year 4 of wearing his shirts backwards. Love it.)

Gleaning Blueberries for the Homeless - a fun way to serve with your kids this summer {the House of Hendrix}

We sprinkled each bucket with love, then dumped them into the sorter.

We removed the green and mushy blueberries and then filled ziplock baggies. Gleaning Blueberries for the Homeless - a fun way to serve with your kids this summer {the House of Hendrix}

At the farm today, our team of 20 gleaners picked 220 pounds of blueberries. Hurray! Gleaning Blueberries for the Homeless - a fun way to serve with your kids this summer {the House of Hendrix}

This is a fabulous opportunity for children to help others in their community that is so much fun! The website again is www.EndHunger.org

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May 30, 2013 by Allison Hendrix

The Interrupt Rule

The situation is all too familiar. Two adults are talking and a child needs to tell their mother something.

“Mom! Mom! ” the child says as their mother is mid-sentence with her friend. 5 minutes later it happens again. “Excuse me, Mom?”

Even with polite words, the parent is being interrupted. It can be hard to focus on either conversation AND be an effective listener when your thoughts are continuously interrupted.

There is a great opportunity here for a child to show respect and honor to their elders by properly knowing how to interrupt a conversation.

Several years ago I took a parenting class called Growing Kids God’s Way which taught a solution I have recently reintroduced to my children. It’s called The Interrupt Rule.

Here’s how it works: When two adults are talking and a child needs to interrupt, they simply put their hand on their parents arm or shoulder. The child waits patiently without speaking.

By maintaining contact, the parent knows the child has a need. The parent can touch their child’s hand to acknowledge its presence.

The parent can continue in their conversation until there is a natural pause or good moment to address the child. ” Thank you for waiting Palmer, what can I help you with?” The child’s needs have been met and were addressed with undivided attention at a moment determined by the parent.

The Interrupt Rule - How your child can show respect and honor to their elders through a simple rule.

I also have been known to hide in my closet when talking on the phone to avoid being interrupted; so I have implemented the Interrupt Rule when I am on the phone. My children don’t wait forever, but this gives me a few moments to finish up my conversation before shifting gears.

In addition to the obvious lesson in patience, the Interrupt Rule teaches children to honor and respect their elders and the conversations amongst them.

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