Eat Your Dinner Charlie!

Dear Charlie,

For some reason, you have made a stand against dinner (with the exception of pizza and spaghetti).  Daddy will make you put a bite in your mouth, and you will save it in there until your mouth fills with saliva.  About an hour after dinner is over, I make you spit it out.

Last night we had Family Home Evening.  Just after “family business” and right before “the lesson,” Lily had a poopy diaper.  While I was changing her diaper, your Dad told you this story:

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Charlie who didn’t like to eat his dinner.  Each day he became smaller and smaller because he wasn’t eating his dinner.  One day, Charlie had grown so small that his dad couldn’t find him.  He called around the house saying, “Charlie!  Charlie!” but no one answered.  Finally, Dad took his magnifying glass outside to look for Charlie and burned him up.  The moral of the story is: Eat Your Dinner Charlie!

I had to get these pearls of wisdom in the books before I forgot.

Love,

The Disgruntled Head Chef

Charlie’s 2!

Dear Charlie,

Time is going by way too fast.  You are becoming such a big boy!  Whenever I take you out to run errands with me, you love to chat it up with the people around you (especially the ladies).  Then people always ask me, “How old is he?”  When I tell them, “He’s two,” they’re shocked.  They say, “He speaks so well for a two year old.  My (grandson, nephew, etc.) was barely talking at two.”  This always makes me smile.  I love having a boy with language skills.

On September 23, 2013, you turned two years old.  Your Daddy was away in Texas for your actual birthday, so we had a small celebration at home.  We ate your favorite dinner of spaghetti, which everyone enjoyed.  Then I made you some cupcakes with little a little sugary Elmo on top that you saw at the store and had to have.  Unlike your first birthday, you enjoyed the cupcake a great deal. 

  

 

Later on that evening, your birthday twin and favorite babysitter Emily Keltner came over and gave you this cool Monsters Inc. stuffed animal Sully.  You were scared of it at first because he roars when you press his tummy, but now he is your favorite and you sleep with him every night.

 

Your favorite movies: Cars, Monsters Inc., and Rango

You call all shapes squares

You have a thing for brunettes

You are the best big and little brother any girl could ever hope for!

You are a big-time Mamma’s boy, and you tell me many times a day, “Mom, I want to hold you.”

You call all trucks “Monster Trucks”

You love to play in the dirt and pour it on your head and the heads of others.  You love dirt so much that you eat it on a regular basis.

You’re very afraid of heights, but Daddy is determined to break you of it.

Your favorite places to go are the park, Nana and Papa’s house, and Grammy and Pa’s house.

You are very good at making me laugh when you are doing something naughty.

You are the son I always dreamed of having.

 

Happy birthday Charlie!

Love,

Mom

That Was Fun

Dear Charlie,

In August of 2013, we went to San Diego for Ella’s 3rd birthday.  While we were there, I thought it would be a good idea to take you to a park near Grammy’s house that has a train ride.  Right now you are totally into Thomas the Tank Engine.  They even have a little shop at the train station that has Thomas toys to play with while you wait for the train.

The train that was running on the day we went was just a little train with some box seats (like the kind of train on Big Thunder Mountain).  We waited for about 30 minutes to get onto the train, but you were happy playing with the Thomas toys.  Then when we started to board the train, you started squirming out of my arms.  You screamed and flailed about, “NO, NO, LET ME GO, LET ME GO!”  With tears running down your cheeks, you made it clear you did not want to be on the train ride.  I tried to distract you by pointing to the birds and the scenery of the park, but I don’t think you could hear anything I said over your screaming.

Finally, the train came to a stop at which point you turned to me and casually said, “That was fun.” 

One Sunday morning while Daddy was in Texas training with Kay, you had another good idea: lock Mommy out of the house.  While I was in the backyard taking care of Cabo and the chickens, you switched the latch on the back door.  Being the good mother I am, I had bolted the front door shut to keep you kids safe.  Your Dad also pad locked the garage door before he left to keep us safe.  I was completely locked out of the house, and none of our friends or neighbors had a key to our house.

Fortunately, I had my phone with me, and I was dressed.  It really was a miracle that I didn’t go outside in my under garments like I normally do.  During the month of August in Yuma there is very little motivation to put on any extra layers of clothing. I used my phone to take this great picture of you freaking out after being separated from me for 45 minutes.  (See my reflection in the upper left-hand corner?) I was able to call our friend Stafford and he helped me to open a window and climb into the office.   Why do crazy things always happen on Sunday mornings?  Lesson learned: we now have two neighbors with a spare key to our house. Oh Charlie, “That was fun.”

Love,

Mom

Meekness Is Not Weakness

Dear Ella, Charlie, and Lily,

This letter to you is one to show you that I am not perfect, but I can be perfected through Christ.

I really believed that after watching other parents and teaching in a classroom for so many years that I knew all of the answers about parenting.  I knew what it took to be a great mom, and I was promised that I would be a good mother to my children. Of course, like so many other things in my life, I thought that my greatness would just flow naturally.  I would have babies, and poof, I would be perfect.  Sadly, that is not what happened.

In the three years of being a mother, I feel that there are many times where I have failed at my job.  There was a period recently where I felt as though I was losing control of my home and my children.  Temper tantrums were rampant, you three were hurting each other: biting, kicking, screaming, pushing, scratching, you name it.  When I would tell you to do something, you would disregard my commands until there was a threat attached to it.  You wouldn't listen to me unless I used my "angry voice."  In an attempt to take control back of my home, I decided to fight fire with fire!  I was not going to allow my children to behave this way, so I fought back.  I started yelling and spanking in hopes of becoming the boss, the master of my house.  My whole life I have been so passive that people have walked all over me.  I couldn't be a doormat for my children.  You needed discipline!  I felt completely justified for my actions.  While trying desperately to gain control, I completely lost control..

After a few months of this, I knew that my home was not what I wanted it to be.  I wanted to have peace in my home, but I didn't feel as though being soft-spoken would solve the problem, in fact, I was sure it wouldn't. I didn't know what to do, but I knew that what I was doing wasn't working. It was then that I started praying for help.  I was reluctant at first because I already knew that yelling and spanking are not the Lord's way. Because I knew that was not what he wanted me to do, I started asking questions like, "What tone of voice should I use to discipline my children?  How can I learn to control my anger?  What kinds of consequences might be effective to change their behavior?"

I wish I could tell you that immediately after I started praying for help, I stopped my bad behavior, but I didn't.  I had to repent every day for losing my cool, but I kept trying to be better every day.  Then in October, we had General Conference.  Although I didn't hear all of the talks live, I read them later.  One of the talks stood out to me as an answer to my prayers.  It is titled, "Be Meek and Lowly of Heart" by Elder Ulisses Soares.  As soon as I read it, I knew it was meant for me.  He states, "Meekness is the quality of those who are 'Godfearing, righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering.'  Those who possess this attribute are willing to follow Jesus Christ, and their temperament is calm, docile, tolerant, and submissive . . . Being meek does not mean weakness, but it does mean behaving with goodness and kindness, showing strength, serenity, healthy self-worth, and self-control . . . Upon acknowledging our dedication and perseverance, the Lord will give us that which we are not able to attain due to our imperfections and human weaknesses."  I have read this talk many times over the last few months, and I know that the words in it are true.  I can't say that you children obey me all the time, but I can say that I feel like I have more control over myself.  My home is a much more peaceful place than it was.  I feel better about myself and the kind of mother I am since reaching out to the Lord for help.

I want you to know that I love you three so much.  My goal and my desire is to someday be a perfect mother to you.  Unfortunately, you have to forgive me while I'm working on that goal.  I know that with the help of the Savior, all things are possible. I'm so grateful for our church leaders who are prayerful about what talks to give at General Conference so that I can be inspired to be a better person.

Love always and unconditionally,

Your humbled mom

Disneyland!

Dear Charlie,

This year for Papa’s birthday (May 9th), your Nana and Papa took us all to Disneyland!  You absolutely love Mickey, but you can’t say “Mouse,” so you call him “Moose.”  Anytime we would see Mickey you would shout, “MOOSE!”  You’re so stinkin’ adorable.

We rode some rides at California Adventure as well as the Magic Kingdom.

 

 

You took a nice long nap in the middle.

And you got to meet Mater.  You didn’t know about Cars then, but Mater is now one of your favorites!  You watch Mater’s Tall Tales on Netflix everyday.

And you were a good little boy the whole day…as long as we supplied you with some chocolate milk here and there.  I think your favorite part was getting to talk to Crush from Finding Nemo.  That was your favorite movie at the time, and you were so excited to see him.  You were pretty annoyed that you couldn’t get out of your seat and go touch him though.  You also liked the submarine ride because it too had scenes from Finding Nemo.  You must get your love of ocean reefs from your Daddy.

I had such a fun time watching your cute little face light up every time you saw a character you recognized.  I think the next time we go you will appreciate it more because you have new Disney favorites like Cars, Dumbo, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc.  It will be a whole new experience for you when you are old enough to go on some of the other rides too. 

Before we left, your Nana bought you a little set of rubber Disney characters that had Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto.  Since our trip to Disneyland, you have to go to bed with at least one (but usually two) of these little characters.  Oh, I love you my little Disney boy!

 

Love,

Mom

Devin Gerard Griffiths

Dearest Charlie,

While I was searching for the words, this is what I came up with:

Devin taught me to appreciate family, life, the Lord, temple covenants, and all of the little things that make life sweet.  He did so much for me and many, many others in his short beautiful life.  We love you so much Devin.

Love,

Auntie Shelley

What's Grosser Than Gross?

Dear Charlie,

When I was a kid, we used to play this game called "what's grosser than gross?" You would then give two gross scenarios and the other person would have to pick which they would rather have happen. For example, what's grosser than gross: finding a band-aid in your burger or biting off your big toe nail? You get the idea?

Well, I thought we could play a little "what's grosser than gross" with all of the things you have put in your mouth. Here we go:

Fruit snacks that have fallen in the dirt

A cigarette butt

An old soda can you found at the park and tried to drink out of

The toilet brush

The toilet plunger

Dog poop

Money

Hair brushes

Straight up dirt (and you kept going back for more)

Dog food

Pond water infested with mosquito larva

Ella's potty training seat (I swear you thought it was a teething ring)

Bubble soap

My flip flops (not just the shoe, but the little plastic part that comes out of the bottom is your favorite) 

Bullet shells

Crayons

And those are just the ones that I have caught you eating. Who knows what else has been in your mouth.

I do realize that this letter is just as much (if not more) a reflection on my parenting skills. Hey, I was pregnant and slow for most of your experimental phase. I still give you kisses even though I know what's been on those lips. Now I'm going to go and brush my teeth. Gross Charlie!

XOXOXO,

Mom