Superhero Celebration Recipe

My children are not perfect, little angels. Nope, they are sinful people, just like the rest of us. So frequently I find myself focusing more on the wrong that they do, rather than looking for growth and good choices. Last week I was convicted of this wrong focus, and I decided to watch for growth, and to celebrate what I saw. My mom was brilliant at the skill of spotting the good in my sister and me. I want to be like her in that area. My mom was also a fantastic maker-of-occassions. Her memory inspired me to create a special occassion for my family this week.

During last school week, I learned that Snapper had made some great strides in the areas of courage and wisdom. Pepper also displayed some growth in obedience and self-control. As I was pondering this, a great idea flashed into my mind--why not have a superhero theme day, and celebrate character growth? After all, it is strength of character that makes a real-life superhero. We included our friends the W's in our special day. Since many of you have wanted to hear more about it, here is what we did.

1. Start a morning with a special activity that requires endurance. We climbed Pinnacle Mountain, a 1,000-foot-high mountain in Central Arkansas. It is a very rigorous trail that has rendered me still completely sore a whole 3 days later! Other options might be taking a hike, completing a challenging obstacle course, or biking a longer route than usual.

2. The hike to the top of Pinnacle took us about an hour and a half. When we reached the top, we ate the picnic lunch we had carried up.

Then we presented each child with a certificate honoring their areas of character growth, and a Bible verse to go with it. We made a big deal about each child, and told them how we had witnessed the growth. At the conclusion of your activity, discuss with your kids how building character is like climbing a mountain; it is challenging and can be difficult at times, but the rewards are great. If you would like the template for the certificates I made, email me at lifeartist48@yahoo.com and I will email them to you.

3. After we got down from the mountain, we stopped at a convenience store for cold water and ice cream--cool refreshment and a sweet reward for hard work.

4. Snapper and I made a brief stop at home for showers before heading out to our local paint-your-own-pottery shop. (Matt and Pepper opted for naps at home). On the way there, I told Snapper what we were doing next. We discussed how we are like pots in God's hands, and that He is making us into a spectacular work of art. We are not finished overnight, and the work is often painstaking. In fact, we have to go through hard times for our character to become beautiful. She really seemed to get it when the lady at the pottery shop explained how firing our piece turns the paint a brighter color, and makes it shiny.

You can go the pottery shop route. Other options would be building something with clay at home (Fimo, Sculpey, or salt dough can be baked), making Shrinky-Dinks, or working in the garden. Use the process to talk to your kids about how growing godly character is a challenging, sometimes painful process.

5. End your day with a Superhero Supper. I served Hero Burgers, Tater Tots, and Powerade. I had originally planned on serving Super Smoothies, but I ran out of energy (and grapes).

Hero Burgers

Slice a loaf of French bread lengthwise. Toast middle-up under the broiler until light brown.

Mix together:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. salt

Spread meat mixture over toasted bread, making sure to cover the edges of the bread to prevent burning.
Broil 4 inches from the element for 10-12 minutes.
Top with grated cheddar cheese and broil until cheese is melted.
Slice into 3-inch-wide pieces and serve.

6. Pray with your kids and thank God for helping them grow to be more like Him. Over dessert, you can discuss other areas of their character that need work, and commit to help them grow in those areas. Don't forget to notice the progress they make, even when it is very slow. Because they know you are watching for growth, your recognition and praise will mean a lot.

Great follow-up for this fun day is to begin reading about real-life superheroes. There are many of them to be found in the Bible. Others--such as Amy Carmichael, Billy Sunday, Hudson Taylor, and Elisabeth Elliott--are delightful to study, too. Your local Christian bookstore can direct you to the biographies of these heroes of the faith.

If you try having a Superhero day, I would love to hear all about it!

Superhero Supreme

So often I feel like most of my interaction with my kids is discipline and correction. Manners training. Social skills tweaking. Respect reinforcing. Kindness coaching. The list goes on. I have to work hard to be careful not to forget to praise them for the things they do well. Are you tracking with me here? Every now and then we like to celebrate character growth in the kids. I've noticed that making a big deal about growth steps tends to have far more of a lasting impact than the daily discipline grind. Now don't get me wrong...the daily discipline is important--no, critical--in developing Christlike character in my children. But positive reinforcement is crucial, too. When I notice consistent progress, we celebrate. I think the theme of our week this week could be Superheroes! Both my kids have had some very heroic moments. Their acts of heroism are very different, though. I must write them down so as not to forget.

Pepper is my hero. He is a real superhero. Pepper IS Spiderman. Rest easy here...there are no spiders involved in this tale. At some point in the last few weeks, Matt introduced Pepper to his favorite movie: Spiderman. Spiderman was Matt's favorite superhero when he was little, so it seemed logical to start Pepper young. Ever since watching the movie, Pepper has become immersed in all things Spiderman. This means his Spidey underoos are top priority in his underwear drawer. He wears his Spiderman costume as much as I will let him, which is pretty much all the time. He constantly plays Spiderman, insists that his name is Spiderman, and has worked hard to teach his fingers how to hold the web-slinging position. He even understands that Spiderman helps others. Both kitties have been "rescued" multiple times. Of course, they have to be locked in the closet so he can rescue them...but still, he is showing great kindness and compassion by tenderly rescuing "poor, lost Zoe and Pixie" from their distress. Yesterday he came down for breakfast with his Spiderman action figure in one hand and his Spiderman baseball cap in the other hand. Here is what he said.

(Holds up action figure) "Look Mommy, it's ME! Look what I can do!" (proceeds to jump around the living room, making combat noises and flying Spiderman all over the place) Serious cuteness!
(Holds up his ball cap) "This is amazing, Mommy! They even put ME on a hat!"
Can you stand it? I can hardly stand it! I just want to eat him up, he's so cute!

Pepper is my superhero because he has such a wonderful imagination. I am soaking up every moment of Pepper's delightful imaginative play! He is also my hero because he is making a very conscious effort to be kind to the cats. This has been an area of consistent struggle for him, but he is really working on it! I've even heard him verbally coaching himself on how to kindly touch the kitties! So proud of him!

Snapper is a real-life superhero. All summer long, we had an ongoing discussion about bullying. We read books about bullying, talked about why bullies act the way they do, and about how to deal with a bully. We did quite a bit of role playing so she would be prepared to wisely handle bullying whenever she should encounter it. And believe me, bullying is a big problem in the generation our kids are growing up in! Snapper's first confrontation with a bully came in the first 5 minutes of her first day of 2nd grade. I watched the whole thing from the hall, curious to see if our advance preparation would pay off. Snapper was handing out pencils for her teacher when one of the girls in the class--we'll call her Lisa--came over to her. Lisa, who is a good 6 inches taller than Snapper, got right up in Snapper's face and told her in a very mean and domineering manner that she was passing out the pencils wrong. Without missing a beat, Snapper straightened up, looked Lisa square in the eye and said (in the trademark sassy Snapper style), "Hello, I'm in 2nd grade. I think I can handle it!" I think my jaw hit the floor at the courage and boldness of my girl! Lisa backed down and walked away. The next day she asked Snapper to be her friend, and they have enjoyed playing together ever since.

Yesterday a 3rd grade boy started making fun of Snapper's friend Kelly (name changed). Snapper went straight over to that older boy and told him to stop making fun of Kelly, or she would go tell the teacher. She reminded him that words can hurt others. Then she growled at him and chased him away.

Today Snapper's teacher had surgery, so there was a sub in Snapper's class. During a math game, the class got very rowdy. The sub had to discipline the whole class. However, there were a few students who were being quiet and respectful, and were trying to get the others to calm down. Those 4 girls and 2 boys got to pick their favorite books from the shelf and go next door to another teacher's classroom to read while the sub dealt with the naughties. Snapper and Kelly were two of the good kids who enjoyed their reading reward!

Snapper is my superhero because:
1. She courageously (if not the most tactfully) faced the bully.
2. She made friends with the bully.
3. She stood up to a bigger, older boy in defense of her friend, and coached him on using kind words.
4. She is making good behavior choices and is choosing to do what is right, even when it means going against what everyone else is doing.

I am so proud of my kids this week--proud of who they are and the growth I'm seeing in their lives. I'm planning a superhero party for them to celebrate. Our party will happen on Saturday. If the weather cooperates, we'll go for a morning hike to the top of Pinnacle Mountain which is about 10 miles west of downtown Little Rock. That is an activity that requires courage and determination, yet has a great reward! In the afternoon, I'll take Snapper to the pottery studio in our town to make a wall hanging for her room--one that reminds her of her favorite Bible verse, Joshua 1:9: "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." For dinner we will have a superhero meal. Our menu consists of: Hero Burgers (recipe coming soon!), Superpower Smoothies (fruits and veggies to strengthen our bodies), and Powerade to drink. It will be a celebration for both kids to remember!

Has your kiddo been a superhero this week? Please tell me about it! If you have creative ways to celebrate character growth, I'd love to hear about that, too.