the wise man....obeys his parents

A few weeks ago I planned a super awesome Family Home Evening lesson.  

For our family, FHE is typically us sitting together in the piano room, singing a few songs, sharing a (very) brief message from the Behold Your Little Ones nursery manual, bearing a speedy testimony, and then playing Simon Says for the last fifteen minutes.  

Teeny tiny attention spans around here.

So, when I got the idea to make graham cracker houses, tell them the parable of the wise man and the foolish man, and talk about building our lives on a firm foundation, 

I was pretty excited.  

And I remember thinking, as I got everything set up and ready to go before dinner, 

"This is going to be so fun, and it's so simple it can't get messed up." 

Famous last words.

Well, our children have both been really struggling with trying to be in charge around here lately, and our authoritative parenting skills have been tested, tested, and tested again.

Long story short, the kids went to bed early, to much tears and lots of hugs but no giving in, and we didn't get to do our Family Home Evening on Monday night. 

Nicholas was super sweet the next day, though, and he and Ellie worked their hardest to earn the chance to do our cracker houses after dinner that night. 

So, Tuesday night, after dinner (during which they were both exceptionally well behaved), 
We built cracker houses, we sang songs, 
We talked about Jesus and His parables,
and we ate lots of sprinkles.

A Tuesday-night FHE success.