Confessions

So, one night at bed time I had the bright idea to play a game with the kids. I called it, "Confessions" and came up with 2 rules. 1) No laughing at each other & 2) No judging. Little did I know that this would quickly became a favorite game that they would ask for EVERY night! I really had no idea what I was going to do when I came up with the game but I started each question with "Raise your hand if you have ever...." and then I came up with confession type questions....Oh My Goodness! The things I learned!! Basically, rule #1 is thrown out the window quickly as the kids giggle at each other. I always answer the questions along with them and that makes them laugh even harder! Everyone has the opportunity to "confess" their story but no one is made to. There have only been a few times when the kids have opted not to share their stories. The kids ask for it so often that I am running out of questions!! And Scott doesn't want to play the game because he is afraid he will give the kids ideas!! And since I am the "good" parent....I get to come up with clean, silly questions. :)

Raise Your Hand If You Have Ever.....

 Played with matches.

Told a lie.

Had a secret crush.

Have a boyfriend/girlfriend.

Embarrassed yourself at school.

Cussed when you were mad.

Put your big toe in your mouth.

Played a trick on someone.

Had someone bully you.

Been a bully to someone at school.

Broken something and been afraid to tell your mom & dad.

There have been hundred's of silly and serious questions but the one question, that lead to many more confessions and freaked me out the most was..... 

Raise your hand if you have ever Put someone's toothbrush in the toilet!!

And do you know that I had TWO children raise their hands? Rule #2 went out the window as I shrieked, WHAT! (which, btw, the kids can mimic me doing perfectly) and they both confessed...and it was against each other but neither had any idea! And so then came the, YOU DID WHAT TO MY TOOTHBRUSH!?! And the more I shrieked the more they laughed. Can you believe that? Two of my angels put their siblings toothbrush in the toilet...but app. not at our house. Ugh. Then one confessed they put soap on another toothbrush and when I was tucking in one of the offenders they whispered, "I also may have put so and so's brush in the sink drain and swooshed it around....oh and maybe in my backwash in our bathroom cup too....ugh.....I can't tell you how shocked I was! My kids are great. They aren't trouble makers. If my babies are doing this to each other what in the world are they going to do when they are older? Oh. My. Gosh....

And after I lectured them on why that is a very bad thing to do....and talked to Scott about it....I realized that our little game could be very important to our family. We have already built an atmosphere where the kids feel comfortable sharing things with us. We are the ones' they go to when they have a rough situation at school, when they have parent frustrations, girlfriend/boyfriend issues or other confession type concerns (not my words btw) they need to deal with. What better way to get your kids to talk to you than to start when they are young? When you make it a game they all want to play and they are so honest. They will tell you anything if they know they are safe. Our hope is that we can keep the lines of communication open thru the teen years and that they know they can come to us for anything. Even if their confession is life changing. I love my kids and really like who they are. You can never underestimate how good grace and mercy can be for your relationships.....try it...YOU just might like it!