High Low

I have a million things to blog about--Aiden turned 6, we had a wonderful visit with my cousin and wife and new baby, my mom and dad, sister and her husband. Our yard is all torn up like you wouldn't believe, but we have a brand new septic system and can resume our normal bathing schedule, lol. The list of things I could write about seems endless, but I want to write about a new game we've been playing at dinner. It's called High Low.

This idea isn't my own, I unashamedly stole it from a blog, I only wish I could remember which one so as to give it credit! For as long as we've been sitting at our dining room table together for dinner, we've always asked our kids to tell us about their day. We talk about school, Y classes, playing outside, etc. But then I stumbled upon the High Low game, and I think it's worth telling you all about. I think it's something that is really encouraging our kids to open up to us, to not just tell us about the good, but to tell us about the bad too, and how it made them feel. It's becoming my favorite part of the day, listening to my littles share their hearts with me.

It's as simple as it sounds. We go around the table in turns and each person tells about the High point of their day, and the Low point of their day. Ava's is usually predictable, if I made something she likes to eat for dinner, that is usually her high point, lol. She struggles to come up with a Low, and she usually needs reminding about a fight with her brother or a fit she threw at me for some trivial thing or another. She doesn't like reflecting on the Low point, it makes her feel sad, but we always end up discussing what happened and finding solace in the fact that she can always try harder next time to control her temper, or be nicer to a friend. Aiden's High often involves success with building a toy or completing a level in a video game, but he's starting to evolve and take more pride in his own personal accomplishments. Yesterday his High was that he graduated his swimming class and is now a Polliwog (based solely on the fact that he turned 6 and moves automatically to the next level, but he doesn't know this, and I am proud of how hard he worked this session). He was so proud to tell us, so happy with his little piece of paper. It really warmed my heart. His Low typically involves something that happened at school--another kid making fun of the way he writes a certain letter or the way he sang a song in music class, or he tripped and fell in gym. It hurts me to hear him describe his embarrassment or sadness, but it encourages me to hear him talk about it so freely. This silly little game we play, it's helping my kids really TALK to us about the way they feel, about their best moments of the day and their darkest ones as well. I hope that as the years go by, we always look at this game as an opportunity to grow as parents, to nurture our children and raise them to be individuals who are capable of expressing feelings and emotions. I hope that it's something that they look back on and remember with nostalgia and love. I know I definitely will.

I just wanted to share this little game on my blog, so I can remember when it began for our family, and encourage others to play it too. High Low is quickly becoming the High point of most of my days, because it's hard to find time in my busy daily life to just sit and do nothing but talk to my kids about their feelings. And it's also really, really nice to hear my 4 year old say, "Mommy, what was the best part of your day?"