Friday, December 3, 2010

Tea time and a pony

Sitora hates eating. We practically have to convince her that food is actually good.

I was getting to the end of my rope wondering how on earth to get this girl to just eat.

Two words.


Tea Party!
 

A few months ago I started having tea parties with Sitora. All we did was drink tea and "talk", and we only did it a few times a month.

More recently I decided to have a tea party with Sitora every single day. I let her use my good "tea cups" and keep a close eye on her. She hasn't dropped or broken one yet! She is extremely thrilled about it every time and her eyes sparkle with excitement. She asks me every single morning now, "Mommy, tea party please?"

She starting bringing her pony with us and would try to "feed" her pony some tea from a spoon. Over time, pony became a permanent fixture for the event. I started lighting our good candles every time as well, as Sitora adores candles and affectionately calls them, "FIRE!" (Hmmmm she may or may not have inherited this pyromaniac trait from her Father...)

I place a bib on her with a little pouch at the bottom to catch any "spills", and push the table up as close as possible to her body. She prefers to stand up, so the pouch idea works really well. I then start cooking breakfast while she starts sipping her tea from a spoon. I bring the cheese and grater, salt and pepper, and little tea biscuits and set them on the table. She becomes so enthralled with the whole event that she gladly eats her breakfast, pain free!


Like I said in my earlier post about our Tea Parties, I love giving Sitora my undivided attention and asking her about her day and how she feels. Sometimes she doesn't say much and doesn't understand. Other days she's very involved in the conversation. Of course I have to give her questions to answer like, "Did you have fun this morning playing with your blocks? Did you snuggle with Daddy this morning?" I always make it a point every Tea Party to look in her eyes and say, "Guess what? I love you!" And not suprisingly, she has started sporatically telling her Daddy and I that she loves us throughout the day for no apparent reason. It melts my heart. 


I hope Sitora and I continue our little tradition for as long as she desires. The older she gets I hope to change them to "coffee dates" and we'll go to her venue of choice.

I am deeply convicted that parents should be the main source of discipleship in their children's lives. You can see a drastic difference in depth of confidence and faith between children who are purposefully discipled by their parents and those who aren't. Of course Father is faithful and loving and can provide other ways for children to be touched and mentored by others in their lives. But my friends, this is the way it is meant to be. May all of us parents stand up and take our responsibility seriously. It is not someone else's job to mentor our children. Yes, throughout our years others will come alongside us to help with our kids. We are "the body" and every part works together to glorify Father. But we must view ourselves as the main source of mentorship with our children.

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained.

  Winston Churchill

3 comments:

  1. great post... LOVE the tea parties and love the bonus of a smoother breakfast!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah. You're an awesome mom. All awesome moms have tea parties with their children. I have "tea time" with the boys. Almost every day after naps. It's the same, just not as girly, and without the "guess what? I LOVE you!"...but I'm stealing that from you. That is a great idea. =)

    ReplyDelete