I'm Telling On You

Standing at the kitchen sink I can hear my 5 and 3 year old playing. I hear the 3 year old start to whine and say, "I'm going to go tell mommy." She comes out to me in the kitchen and says that her big brother is being mean. She doesn't even wait for me to respond and walks back into the other room and says, "Braedon, I tell'd on you." With that, I am left to figure out how to deal with the 'telling on' issue at our house.  I am also reminded why the 'don't tell on people' rule does not do it for me.

You see I was told from a very young age not to tell on people. As I grew slightly older, I was teased by my brothers because they knew, as well as I did, that I wasn't going to tell because it wouldn't do any good. When I grew up even bigger I rode the school bus and was teased and bullied and told that if I told anyone I would get beat up. I was also teased a lot in high school and never told anyone. A post for a different day is how all of this played into my insecurity and low self-esteem that I am still dealing with today 20-25 years later. So the whole issue of 'don't tell' weighs heavily on my mind.

I imagine that my stance on this is probably going to change as my children grow and mature. But for right now, I want them to tell me everything. I want them to know without a doubt that they can tell me anything. I want to respond with patience and kindness when they do tell me things. I want to teach them appropriate responses and behaviors instead of leaving them to their own devices to work it out. I want to teach them to honor and respect each other. Yes, I know that 'telling on you' is not very honoring or respectful but it is a process.  The issue is pretty heavy right now and as I mull it over, I can't help but think of many different scenarios like this one... 

Imagine this: a tween girl has been told all her life not to tell on people. She visits the doctor for a routine check-up and reads the poster on the back of the door that encourages children to speak out if they have been touched inappropriately. In her mind, she begins to think back to that one time... Then, she remembers that everyone has always told her not to tell on people. Also, the person who she looked up to told her not to tell or she would get in trouble.

I don't think she is very likely to tell and get the help she needs to heal from 'that one time'... More than likely her future holds more trouble due to the hurt she has suffered and never properly healed from.  Could it be that mixed messages are keeping kids who are struggling with bullying or abuse from speaking out? I don't have the answer but I think I would rather err on the side of them feeling free to tell me whatever they want...as frusterating as it can be sometimes.

I would love to hear your thoughts, stance and experiences from your home in dealing with this issue

Happy Valentine's Day - 5 Years Ago

Five years ago today we brought home our first born son, Braedon, from the hospital. He was born on February 10th. I had a C-Section and frankly was scared to death to leave the hospital with a baby. I was having trouble nursing and in a lot of pain so when the doctor said we could stay another day we did. When we were getting ready to go home I didn't even realize it was Valentine's Day because of new baby fog. I am so thankful to have this special memory of Valentine's day!
This picture is from Christmas and I am sad to say it is the best, most recent photo I have of him. Note to self: I really need to take more pictures.

Braedon's Party

We celebrated Braedon's 5th birthday this weekend. We decided kind of last minute that we would have a party. I left it up to hubby since he had a L-O-N-G week at work. He said, "Let's Party!" So, partying is what we did on the one evening free in between 4 evenings of hubby having to work.

Here is the birthday boy with a somewhat bashful look on his face as everyone is singing Happy Birthday day to him.

We had pizza, salad, fruit, cupcakes and ice cream (that I forgot to get out of the freezer until it was too late). Besides the normal singing, cake and presents the kids just played. After the crowd calmed a little we fired up the Xbox so the kids and adults could both play!
We handed out these party favors as our guests left:

Our hearts are overjoyed that so many people came out to celebrate with us.