taking every opportunity

Monday, February 11, 2008

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

We watch Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. By "we," I mean our entire family. Our house is laid out so that the kitchen and the family room are pretty much one big room. So when Hannah Montana is on the TV, it’s difficult to miss. Truth is, I like it. We all like it. We like it so much that we have the DVR set to record all showings. ALL showings. So we’ve watched the same episodes more than a few times. I’m right there with Lysa when she says she turns Hannah Montana UP, and not off, when her daughter gets out of the car!

There’s one episode where Hannah is on a talk show with another teen pop star, named Mikala. Mikala is singing her new hit song and Hannah is clearly enjoying it. Hannah seems genuinely happy for Mikala’s success. Mikala finishes the song, Hannah gives her a big girly hug and then the talk show cuts to a commercial break. That's when Mikala lets Hannah know she's not a Hannah fan. Then we watch Hannah change. We watch Hannah do the “right back atcha!” The two girls are bitter rivals instantly. “Harsh words” abound! Take a look at the video clip.



Now, our family has watched this particular episode a number of times, but this time, I say:

“pause” (don’t you LOVE DVRs?)

“what?”

“Did you see what happened there?”

“what?”

“Did you see how Hannah changed?”

“how?”

“When Mikala was singing, what was Hannah doing? Was she happy for Mikala?”

“yeh.”

“And what did Hannah do after Mikala was finished with her song?”

“hugged her.”

“But then Mikala was really mean to Hannah."

"yeh"

"So what did Hannah do after Mikala was so mean?”


“she was mean back.”

“What do you think would have happened if Hannah had still been nice to Mikala, even when Mikala was being mean?”

“I dunno.”

“I wonder if maybe Mikala and Hannah would have ended up friends.”

“Mom. It’s just a tv show.”

“Oh no it isn’t babe. Its an OBJECT LESSON.”

(loud groaning in stereo)

FirstHusband and I were talking to FavoriteSon about object lessons later that day and he said, "Mom, it's just that you do it SO much!"

We cracked up! (It's working! They're paying attention! Wooo Hooo!)

I said, "You better get used to it buddy, because you are going to be getting them your entire life. You're going to be 38 years old and I'm still going to be saying, 'If you think about it this way . . . ' "

FirstHusband said, "No, no, no, no, no. You're going to be 38, talking to YOUR kid, saying, 'If you think about it this way'"

Yeah, he rolls his eyes NOW. But he uses object lessons with his 7 year old sister already. He can't help it. He never stood a chance. heh, heh, heh.

With a new attitude everything can change,
make it how you want it to be.
Stayin' mad, why do that?
Give yourself a break.

Laugh about it and you'll see.

Life's what you make it, so let's make it rock!
Life's what you make it,
so come on come on, everybody now!
Hannah Montana (Life's What You Make It)

Posted by Julie Stiles Mills at 2/11/2008 08:27:00 AM  

3 comments:

Julie,

Very well said...I have two boys, almost 12 and almost 14 and yes, we watch Hannah Montana (and Suite Life, not sure about that one...ha!).

I love that you also used "Object Lessons" with your kids. I don't think we have ever called them taht, but we do it all the time with them nonetheless.

We have to always have our eyes and ears ready for any of these opportunities to "teach/show" our kids because they are the perfect opportunity to reach them at that moment.

Melissa

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:21:00 AM  

Mel, yeah, we watch Suite Life too! Arwin's my favorite.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:06:00 PM  

Hannah fans here too!

I too use object lessons...just the other day I was taking my teenaged son and one of his buddies to soccer practice. They were discussing Roger Clemons and why he would deny an allegation that seems so obviously true. Well, I jumped on that one pretty quick, telling them that "sin will always find you out...what is done in the dark will be brough to light..."

*Quick change of subject in the back seat*

May the seeds of truth we plant today grow into a rich spiritual harvest tomorrow!

Lisa Spence said...
Friday, February 22, 2008 9:05:00 AM  

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