FHE in the Morning

Yesterday, the kids and I were hanging out in the morning, and Josh and Claire piped up and said, "Mom! We never finished Family Home Evening last night! It was really fast, and we didn't even have a closing song or prayer!" Well, they were right. For some reason, we didn't 'end' our FHE the right way. So, they told me they wanted to do it again. I said that was no problem, as I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind having it again tonight. They said no, that they wanted to do it right now! So, we had an impromptu FHE at 8:30 in the morning! :) It was so funny! Josh sat thinking for a minute and said, "Well, I think Claire conducted last night..." I said, "Actually, Dad conducted last night." Then he brightened up and said, "Ok! Then can I conduct today?" Of course! So, he got up and welcomed everyone. And said we were going to have our opening song, directed by Andrew (and he was SO happy about it!) and we sang "I Am a Child of God" (just one verse). Then, Josh picked claire to say the opening prayer (and she's always so excited about it). Then Josh told everyone that I was going to give a short lesson. Okay... So I told them about the Word of Wisdom. I told them the poem that I learned as a child:

What's the Word of Wisdom?
It's for you to choose
No Tea, no coffee,
No tobacco, no booze!

Of course, the Word of Wisdom encompasses much more than that, and so I told them that it was about taking care of our bodies because they are a special gift from Heavenly Father. The Word of Wisdom tells us what things we shouldn't put in our bodies (alcohol, drugs, etc.) because it can damage our bodies and minds. But it also tells us the things that we should do: Getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating healthy foods like grains and fruits and vegetables. So I asked the kids what kinds of veggies were their favorites...here are their answers:

Josh: Broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers and carrots.
Claire: cucumbers, carrots, chocolate and ice cream! (HA!)

Then the kids started to tell me what their ideas of the word of wisdom were. Josh said part of the Word of Wisdom is obeying your parents. I said that that would be a wise thing to do, but it's not part of the Word of Wisdom. :) Then, Claire wanted to 'give a talk', so she sat in the 'front' and waited. Pretty soon, all the kids were waiting in the 'front' to 'give a talk'. So Claire stands up and says, "The Word of Wisdom is bad! We don't drink coffee or beer." Then Josh gets up and says, "Claire's talk was wrong! The Word of Wisdom is not bad!" so I explained to him that she didn't mean that it was bad, but that it talks about the bad things that we shouldn't put into our bodies. "No, she was just wrong." Oh dear. Finally, it was time for the closing song and prayer. We sang the second verse to I Am a child of God, and Josh said the prayer, then he happily announced it was time for FHE treats!! of course! So, I told them they could have little cookies. But they shot that down. Josh said, "No, I'll show you what we want!" And I said, "If it's the ice cream, you can forget it! It's 8:30 in the morning!!!" So, they were all mad and pouted for awhile. Then I gave them animal crackers and they played with them in the living room for about an hour until they left for playgroup. What a funny bunch of kids I have!! :)