Homemaker Monday: Developing Character Through Human Interaction

Welcome to the 130th weekly edition of...


Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.

YOURS: Today's "YOURS" goes to Suzy over at "Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom"! If you like environmentally friendly products, you'll love Suzy's tutorial on how to make recycled popsicle stick bracelets. The 16-year-old girl is sooooo going to love this. Look how cute!...

For Suzy's tutorial, click HERE. Thank you so much, Suzy, for linking up and feel free to take the "I Was Featured" button from my left sidebar. We'll looking forward to hearing more from you in the future! :)

MINE: I love it when my kids have character-building experiences, and one of the best ways for that to be accomplished is through getting to know a variety of people with varying personalities, strengths and gifts.

We are fortunate to live in a small town where friends and neighbors get to know each other well and there is ample opportunity for myself and my kids to learn how to interact on a deep personal level with so many different types of people.

For example, their grandfather lives across the street, and although he's a man of few words, he's a mountain of a man in the acts of service he performs, which seem to be an innate part of who he is. He is a FANTASTIC example of righteousness, sacrifice and love.

Then there's my sister-in-law and her husband who live two houses down. He's a brusque cowboy who pretends he's mean and nasty. In fact, the 4-year-old boy's first sentence was "No, Mel!", shouted when his uncle roped him as he was trotting by. He's got a soft, mushy interior, though, and loves nothing more than to hold a baby and make kids laugh. His wife, on the other hand, can often be found squatting down at eye-level with various children in my family and showing enthusiastic interest in whatever they happen to be excited about at the time. She has a true gift for this and she makes children around her feel interesting and loved.

On the flip side, we have the family in town who insists on teasing the kids, such as when the grandma grabs the twins faces and says with a loud voice as she looks them in the eye, "Why don't you look me in the eye when I'm talking to you? Hasn't your mother taught you that that's what you do when people talk to you?" Or when her son grabs a twin and throws him up into his arms and questions when he's going to learn to play basketball, like his son. These types of overtures understandably make the twins uncomfortable, but they are having character-building experiences as they learn how to deal with various personality types.

Even Baby Hippo is having character-building experiences. We recently had new neighbors move in who show enormous amounts of love to our children. Baby Hippo is learning how to love someone in addition to immediate family members and he's learning to trust. Here's an example of just that...

He'd never been for a solo ride on his brother's Plasma car, but because of his relationship with someone new, he learned and trusted and had one more experience that advanced his character.

Thank you, all of you in my little Mexican farm town, who give my kids experiences that make them stronger, more loving, patient, understanding and more Christ-like. I can only hope our family can do the same for your kids!

OURS: Okay, I'm so excited, as always, to see what homemaking tips, recipes and how-to's you have for us today. If this is your first time linking up, feel free to dig through your archives and link anything homemaking! Thanks so much for your visits and links and have a GREAT Homemaker Monday!

P.S. I'm finally getting skinnier!

See how I'm doing it HERE! :)