First Annual Madsen Family Back-To-School Night

Lance and I have decided to start a new back-to-school tradition in our family.  I had actually wanted to do this for a few years now, but certain brand new babies (Cole) and morning sickness (Tess) prevented this.  This year our baby was only relatively new and I have no morning sickness (nor any reason to have it!), so there was nothing to stop me.

Anywho, the special back-to-school evening included dinner and a special Family Home Evening lesson where we introduced our new family theme for the 2011/2012 school year.

The actual dinner itself was special only in that I made something I knew the boys would eat and not complain (much) about.  (Spaghetti and meatballs, in case you're wondering.)  I decided to decorate a bit to make it more festive and important. 

First up, a cute and simple pencil bouquet.  Well, I thought it was cute.  Josh thought is was weird and ugly, which he made sure I knew.  Punk kid.  (Too bad, Josh - the pencil bouquet will be back next year!)

I also did some cute pennant banners.  It was really hard to get a picture of it because of the window.  Oh well... trust me, it looked cute.  The boys loved it!

 

We ate dinner and then Lance gave a really good lesson about how fear and doubt and things like that can sometimes stop us from doing tasks that we could really do if we just tried.  He tied balloons to the boys to represent that fear, doubt, etc.

The boys, of course, loved it.

Then he had the boys try to put their shoes on with all of the balloons in the way.  It was a bit tricky, of course.

Then Lance talked D&C 18:10, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."  He taught the boys that Heavenly Father loves us very, very much, and that he is willing to help us do anything we need, such as school work, household chores, learning a new instrument, etc.  If we try our best, Heavenly Father will help us get rid of the fear and doubt that is stopping us.  Then Lance popped the balloons, showing that without those hindrances the boys could easily tie their shoes. (Or anything else they put their mind to!)

Cole thought the balloon popping was hysterical!

Tess did not.

Then we introduced our theme for the year:

We get a lot of "I can'ts" around this house.  Much of the time the boys really mean "I don't want to" when they say it, but often they just really think they can't do something and are just too afraid to try.  Hopefully this motto will help get rid of some of that fear, or at least give them the courage to try.  A copy of this now hangs up on a wall in our home, where everyone can see it and be reminded of it. 

Overall, I think the night went really well.  I think Spencer and Josh caught the idea of the lesson and understand the message we were trying to convey.  Do I expect smooth sailing for the year?  No way.  I'm pretty sure Lance and I will be referring to the sign above frequently during the year as we hear the usual "I can'ts" when the boys are given jobs to do.  But hopefully it will help ease some of the usual school year drama when it comes to homework and projects and such.  (Well, for me at least.  I hate homework and school projects - they are hard things for me!)