What I learned from listening to Dad.

While I was growing up, my dad would read to our family after dinner most every night. One of his graduate degrees was in Speech and Debate, and he was a wonderful reader. Just by listening to him, I learned about inflection, breathing, and voicing the characters – really all about making the spoken word interesting. As I now teach grownups several days a week, the time I spent just listening to my dad was invaluable.

However, the real value was in the memories that were made, the good literature I was exposed to long before I could read it, and the assurance that my mom and dad loved me enough to build time into their day to spend it with us together as a family.

I was recently re-inspired by a book of short stories I came across that will be perfect for after dinner. We need to consistently read to our kids as a family, not just individually.

And then I remembered an activity Karl and I did with Nathan a couple of years ago, called a “Jesse Tree”. Every day of Advent, you read a bible passage about the promises God gave about sending a Savior, and then the fulfillment of that promise.

But what made this an engaging activity for our kids was that we purchased a small artificial tree (about 20 inches tall), and made Sculpey clay ornaments each night that related to the story. We baked the ornaments with a hook inserted for hanging, painted them with sealer, and hung them on the tree. My children learned, enjoyed being with each other, and had fun. Isn’t that the point?

So, what can you do to build values, character, sibling bonds and joy into your dinnertimes, on the nights you can sit down and have a meal as a family? Get inspired. Try something for the next four weeks. It’s too easy to scatter after dinner. Spend just 10 minutes more around the table.

Let me know what you do and how it goes. I’d love to hear your ideas!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who recommends this website for Jesse Tree inspiration.