It was a true statement. Frustration, anxiety, anger, confusion -- a wild ball of hard emotions -- twisted inside his little boy body and things ended up broken.
About a month ago he broke his glasses for the 18th time. This time, however, the damage was so much a new pair of glasses were needed (again). This would be the third pair of glasses in less than six months.
We decided he would pay for them and created a list of chores, as well as a ledger, so he could work, earn money, and pay off his debt. Each day there is no tech time until he has earned at least $1 toward his debt.
So he has been weeding and folding laundry and washing dishes and raking grass clippings to pay off his debt. Remarkably, he does these things with a positive attitude and is earning happy heart bonuses.
And things aren't getting broken quite as much as before.
It is this, this happy heart, that I"m struck by. He's been broken by life. It might be easy to dwell on the rotten and unfair start to life he's had. Yet, he is a survivor. I watch him making things right on the outside and I know he's being healed on the inside. God rescues the broken, saves the shattered, and restores sad hearts.
He is living proof.
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I love the happy heart bonuses. I think I might need to steal that for my own children. :) And I love this post, as always. Love the idea of writing for five minutes on a word. Have done something similar in my classroom. If I can get caught up, I'll try it today myself.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I didn't realize I'd be commenting as an Official Five-Minute Friday Commenter! I usually post waaaaay later than you do. So I will be more elaborate:
ReplyDeleteI totally love this. I love the explicit, literal brokenness paired (as it so often is) with a deeper, less-talked-about broken. And I love that--unconsciously, I'm guessing?--there's a brokenness, a parental barely-holding-this-together-ness in your tone. Love love love!
There is a core feeling I get when you post about your family, Ruth, that is so right, the communication that we love you, and we're going to do all the things we need to do to help you make the leaps into the good person you are. Helping children be responsible for their actions is the loving thing. Good for Jordan for making it right!
ReplyDelete"Unconditional love" is what I see in the "option" to earn "happy heart bonuses" even during a consequence! I really love that idea because it's a reminder of just how deeply you love Jordan. You hand out consequences when you must, but then, modeling God's love, you look for ways to add "happiness" to the equation of family love. What an example for us all.
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