Meteor Nice to Meet You

Being parents, we have a responsibility to teach our kids to be courteous and respectful. To this end we periodically pull out a favorite family home evening lesson where stick-puppet superheroes representing good manners (Thunder Thank You, Power Please, etc.) rescue a person in different situations.

In last week's superhero-manners lesson we introduced a new superhero. Please welcome...Meteor Nice to Meet You.


"Here's a superhero who knows how to make an entrance. He comes to your rescue when you meet or greet someone."

Oh, we covered all of the basics: shaking hands, looking the person in the eye, not fidgeting, answering questions politely. Mitch and I pretended to be visitors and we role-played the situation with each of the boys. We even took brownies to a friend's house and practiced on them.

Real-life application

Yesterday Mitch invited a friend over for brownies and ice cream. Before he arrived, we reminded the kids about Meteor Nice to Meet You.
"Don't forget to shake Eric's hand and look him in the eye," we admonished. The doorbell rang. Caleb and Adam greeted Eric at the door and did very well with their manners. Before Eric got five steps inside, Dallin streaked in wielding a Nerf shotgun, shot Eric in the leg, laughed, and ran for cover.
Meteor Nice to Meet You was MIA.


(Sorry about that, Eric.)

Frightening Firsts

The other day I was sitting at the computer nursing Brandt and paying bills. Suddenly I heard Adam call,"Sorry, Mom!" Uh-oh. I pushed my chair back to watch him come down the hall toward me. He wasn't wearing a shirt (another story) and his face and chest were just dripping with... what!? I took me about one second to figure out that it was Children's Motrin. Yep. Those so-called, child-proof lids? Well, they're not child-proof.

At this point I made my first-ever call to Poision Control. It turned out Adam had spilled most of the medicine down the sink, and he had not ingested a toxic amount. Thank goodness!

So Adam can claim credit for my first call to Poison Control. On seperate occasions (visits to Urgent Care), Dallin had the first broken bone in the family, and Caleb, the first stitches. Here's hoping this list of frightening firsts is also a list of lasts.