This may sound really lame - but it is completely sincere. General Conference is one of my (two) favorite times of year. It has been since high school and has also been the same for Jason. We have always watched all 4 sessions no matter what. And we plan to keep it that way and hope to instill that same love for our children. That is a tricky line. Because we want it to be a LOVE - not something that is forced or even boring.
We have always tried to make that weekend different. But this year I wanted something to lead up to conference. I saw this idea in the Ensign a few months ago and thought it sounded great. The game is "guess who is coming to dinner". Each night (they loved it so much we actually ended up doing it at every meal) I would put clues on the chair about a certain apostle. "in the navy" "mission to England" "Born in Idaho" "has 6 kids"... things like that. Then they would guess who it was. OBVIOUSLY this year they had no IDEA who anyone was (except for Monson and Uchdorf - they knew them) - but that didn't keep them from guessing - and it was fun to put Dad on the spot to see if he knew. Then we put their picture on the chair and the children insisted they get a plate and utensils also. They loved it and ate this game up. Then we hung them on the wall to stay all week. They remembered things when it came time for conference and talked about them often. This worked so well that I decided I am going to do it in all areas of our lives - prophets from the scriptures, historical figures the kids are studying in school, ancestors, or even family members living far away. It was so fun.
When it was time for conference I took all the "clues and put them on one side of the wall and their pictures on another side. When that speaker came up we tried to remember which "clue" was theirs. I am interested to see how their memory is in 6 months - or even what they might remember about some of them in a few years (heres to hopen we don't have many deaths :)
I started a new tradition of making scones on Saturday morning (enough to last for Sunday morning too). I felt just like my mom and grandma while I was making them. I grew up watching them make scones - but had honestly not ever really done it before (I did it once the first year of our marriage and Jason told me that he didn't like them - so I never made them again - but now he is out numbered - sorry honey!!)
Conference went over great. When we woke up on Saturday morning all the kids said, "happy conference day" - like it was a holiday! It made me smile. They were so excited all weekend. I hope it will last for maybe years - if not forever!
2 comments:
HOORAY!!! I love these ideas! We love conference too. A few days before conference I reminded the boys that it would be conference that weekend. They replied, "YESSSS, Conference Treats!" I give them a little bowl of snacks to start each session. I got upset when Ethan kept talking about what we needed to get to make sure that we had enough treats. I told him it's more important to be excited about the speakers than it is to be excited about the treats. I shouldn't have been so annoyed. It is that little tradition that has them excited about conference at a young age. We also have them move the 1st presidency member or apostle's picture to the "stand" on a page when they are up to speak. It helps them look up to see who is speaking. All of the little traditions now add up to conference being looked forward to and then realized how important it is. I LOVE the "who's coming to dinner", we're going to have to do that. You're wonderful Jamie!
Love this!!
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