Last night, as I was working on a verse that I'm memorizing, God gave me another discipline idea. I'm working on Philippians 2:14-15, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." I've been working on this verse for two reasons: 1) I think it's a great reminder for me and 2) Landon hardly does anything without arguing (saying "No)! One thing that we do when disciplining him and explaining why his behavior is unacceptable is that we teach him scriptures that deal with a given behavior. So, I thought this verse would be a perfect one to use. One thing, though, that I want to be careful of is that we don't only use scripture when disciplining him. I don't want him to only associate scripture with discipline because it's so much more than that. It's encouraging and uplifting. It's God's love letter to us. It's inspirational. So, anyway, back to the idea God gave me…the verse says that when we do everything without complaining or arguing we shine like stars in the universe. I decided that any time Landon does what we ask of him without saying "No," we would give him a special star sticker. Then, when he fills up his star paper (or gets all the stars from the sticker sheet), we'll get him a special treat.
I was so excited about the idea that I couldn't wait to get started. This morning, after my doctor's appointment, I ran to Hobby Lobby to get some shiny new star stickers. I didn't tell Landon about them because I wanted to wait until we "caught him" doing the right thing so that he would truly understand why he was receiving the sticker. We didn't have to wait for long.
Landon was playing in his play room when Craig noticed he had a dirty diaper. When Craig told him it was time to go change his diaper, he hesitated for a moment; but he didn't argue or whine or say "No." (Let me just say that this completely caught me off guard because he seriously tells us "No" EVERY TIME we tell him to do something. I have just come to expect it. We don't accept it, but we expect it.) So, as soon as he started heading toward his room with Craig, I stopped him and told him how proud I was that he didn't tell Daddy "No." I seriously made a HUGE deal out of it. I told him that he had made God happy and Mommy and Daddy happy and that when he came back from getting his diaper changed, I was going to give him a very special prize. He was grinning from ear to ear. When he came back from getting his diaper changed, he was still smiling, and he said "Tuh-tull pize"/special prize. I brought him over and read Phil. 2:14-15 to him and explained to him that when he obeys Mommy and Daddy without arguing or saying "No" he is shining like a star. (He was only mildly patient during the explanation. He was ready for his "pize.") Then, I let him pick out a shiny star sticker. I had just planned to give him the sticker; but Daddy had the idea to make a chart or something we could stick it to so that we could keep it. We liked that idea better because we could keep the sticker and have a display to show others when they come over.
Landon helped me make the star paper to put the stickers on. He picked out the colors (he just picked the top two colors in the stack), and he helped me glue the large star on the paper. Then, we added his sticker. Not long after, we got to add another sticker to it! When we told him it was time to go get ready for his nap, he stood right up and came without a fuss. Daddy said, "I think he deserves another sticker for being so sweet." I absolutely agreed!
I'm sure we have not heard the last "No," but I am so encouraged by what we started today. I love that we are able to use scriptures for positive reinforcement and that Landon can be rewarded for making good choices instead of just being punished for making bad ones. Even more than that, I love that Landon is learning scriptures, how they relate to his life, and how to "shine like stars in the universe." Keep shining!
Here he is with his star sticker on his shirt. (It's hard to see because he's playing with it.)
Here he is with his star paper and his first star. He now has 2 stars!
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