Blue Monkey

Have you read about Orange Rhino? I just recently happened upon this blog and it hit home... really, really close to home. I have struggled for years to be self controlled in my frustrations. The result, a lot of days where I have damaged a relationship with one of my children. I can't count how many times I have apologized to my children for this. I know God redeems my mistakes, but to teach my children to be self- controlled (which is sorely lacking in our society), I must first show them.

First and foremost, I pray. My prayer is often "less of me and more of YOU. Fill me up to overflowing Lord." I know my weaknesses and it is ever so true that He is strong in my weakness. If anything good has come from my failures in this area it is that my children have seen me struggle (no one is perfect) and they have seen me earnestly seek my Savior ( I can't do this on my own) Both very important lessons to learn.

After reading Orange Rhino, I decided to tell the kids about it and ask for their help in keeping me accountable. After a long discussion on a code name, we finally came up with Blue Monkey. The first few weeks implementing Blue Monkey in our house were hard. Once you settle in a pattern of doing things a certain way, its hard to break out of that. The kids were good about gently saying Blue Monkey when they saw that my feathers were getting ruffled. I have even heard the kids say it to each other and themselves when things get tense.

I must insert a VERY funny story here. Soon after we started this, Gabe and Isaac were having a confrontation in the kitchen over who knows what... probably something silly. At that time Caleb was sitting on the toilet. He's almost 4 and still leaves the door wide open for all to see. In the middle of the heated discussion, we hear Caleb's sweet little voice say "blue monkey". Certainly broke the tension at least a little bit. I for one was laughing.

I have a chart on the refrigerator door with 400 spaces on it and I highlight one for each day I successfully get through without yelling at my kids. I also printed out and laminated several blue monkeys, one of which even rides around in the van with us! This has been a good reminder for our entire family and just tonight Gabe was telling me that it has also helped him to keep a level head when feeling frustrated.

So, call it Blue Monkey or Orange Rhino or whatever you want. Pray, make an effort to change, and see God bless your socks off and also those of the little feet around your house!