Sucker Fairy Update

So "the sucker fairy" idea has not been working lately.  Campbell has not been doing well at all when we put her to bed.  She cries a lot and is basically inconsolable.  We try to be consistent with disciplining her but nothing is working right now.  We need all the prayers we can get with her.  She is definitely our most difficult child and pushes both of us to our limit.  We want to learn how to love her well in the ways that she needs.  Needless to say, she hasn't gotten a sucker in a while.  :(

"The Sucker Fairy"

Due to the fact that we have three kids in a span of 4 years, and a 3 bedroom house, two of our kids have to share a room.  Which I don't have a problem with, until it's bedtime.  Campbell and Adelai share a bedroom and every night it is a battle to get them to calm down and go to sleep. Campbell thinks it's playtime.  Eric and I can hear the squeaking of her bed as she jumps up and down in it.  Lovely.  And because Campbell is "so annoying" to Adelai, Adelai gets out of her bed and comes to tell us that Campbell is keeping her awake.  Now Eric and I are much smarter than she realizes because we know it isn't just Campbell making all the noise.  She is just as guilty!  Plus she is amazing at coming up with reasons for why she is up; "my toe hurts...I forgot to dry my hair...Campbell woke me up (note that it is only 2 minutes after we have put them down).  So in an effort to stop the madness, I called on some friends on facebook for some help.  My A-MA-ZING friend Brooke Tigtig said that it was time for a visit from "The Sucker Fairy."  She told me to tell the girls that if they were quiet and went to sleep without making noise and without getting out of bed, that the sucker fairy would come and put a sucker under their pillow while they were sleeping.  The joy and excitement in their eyes when I told them about the sucker fairy was beyond enough confirmation to know that this was a good idea.  So, after explaining the sucker fairy over and over (and over, again), we gave it a shot one night.  COMPLETE SILENCE.  It was like someone had come in and stolen my children out of their beds!  Victory! It feels good.  So the next night we went for round 2.  It was not at all what I call a victory.  So there was no sucker fairy.  Night three round 3....complete  silence.  We'll see if it takes and if it's something that will keep working for them.  Though I have to say I am concerned about their teeth in this whole process.  Best part of this experience is walking into their room in the morning at 7:30am to Campbell sitting up in her bed sucking on that sucker!  She was so happy.

"Bless you, Keep you."

Numbers 6:24-26

"The Lord Bless you and keep you.  The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.  The Lord turn his face towards you, and give you his peace."

We had the honor of spending 2 years in a small group of amazing people who will prayerfully be my friends for life.  And during this small group we studied the book called "The Family Blessing".  Basically it broke down the concept of blessing your children.  Eric and I had never heard of this but we were excited about a new way to incorporate scripture into our children.  What you do is, pick a verse that speaks one of God's blessings over his people, and at night while tucking your children in, place your hand on their chest and recite the verse while looking them in the eyes.  It doesn't sound like much, but first of all, speaking truth over your children is so essential.  And secondly, they need to hear you reciting scripture out loud.  It allows them to see your dependence and faith in God's word.  It also allows them to hear God's word.  AND it allows them to eventually memorize God's word.  Now at night as we are tucking our children in for bed, they ask for their blessing.  It has now gotten to the point where Campbell will say "Bless you, Keep you.  Bless you, Keep you." , in sort of a worried voice...like we're going to forget.  And if we don't place our hand on her chest, she pats her chest until you do.  Blessing our children has gone from this foreign idea that we read in a book to this amazing gift that the Lord has given us.  Adelai now recites it along with us.  So like I said, not only do they hear God's word, they now KNOW God's word.  And that's the best gift you could ever give your children, as far as I'm concerned.