I have an update coming soon about what the big kids are up to, because they are up to a lot. And oh how they are still part of this family, which means we still need record of them on this blog. But for today, let’s talk about what to do for FHE (Family Home Evening) when you only have one kid at home. Because if you’re there in this stage with me you know this little tid-bit for a fact:
This one-kid-at-home thing can sometimes be tricky.
Don’t get me wrong, we are quite happy about our “three musketeers” situation most of the time. But when it comes to FHE or family meetings or even just checking-in, sometimes it gets tricky.
Why?
Well because either you sound like an echo chamber when you’re trying to teach something, or that one-at-home-kid thinks you’re checking up on them even when you’re not. You’re just trying to connect. And still teach like you did when all their older siblings were home.
Somehow family meetings (or morning devotional or scripture reading or even questions at dinner sometimes!) become like interrogations in their minds. Or is that just Lucy? Ha!
So we’ve occasionally set up a little “one-kid-at-home” FHE with friends/family who also just have one kid at home.
Dave’s sister and her family came for Sunday dinner last week and we decided to do a little FHE with Dave’s cousin’s family too when dinner was through.
There is something so good and powerful about kids sharing spiritual things together.
I had asked those three girls over there on the couch to come prepared with a spiritual thought to share. And since one of their big brothers was in town, we cajoled him into sharing as well.
Oh my goodness, they did such a great job, mostly with the theme of “Jesus is my friend.”
Kids sometimes have so much more to share than we think they might. We just need to ask. I loved how each thought shared kind of built on something one of the other kids said.
Oh, it was super short and sweet, but I loved sitting there in the family room with the spirit getting heavy in the air around us. Together. Love.
Of course, any good FHE must include games, am I right?
Ha! At least according to Lucy.
And of course, dessert too. We made my new favorites which no one was mad about:)
Anyway, so grateful for our “village” that includes not only these good people:
But so many more.
And grateful Lucy keeps us on our toes asking for these combined Family Home Evenings that help us all grow.
It’s not just Lucy! I am the youngest by 7 years so it was just me at home with my parents in our own “three musketeers” situation from when I was 12-18 years old. I developed a strong bond with my parents during that fundamental period of my life and they were definitely more relaxed with me than with my older siblings. Still, I remember feeling often as though I was being interrogated at the dinner table or the focus of unwanted limelight. Now I realize it was simply my parents being curious about my life, hah!
Thank you for this validation, Elizabeth! Ha! It’s a tricky balance but I loved hearing your experience.
xoxo
Is it bad we are just replacing fhe with CFM . Honestly, between church, seminary. Youth activities, and scriptures it was overload for my kids. So we just do CFM and call it good!
What is CFM?
Come Follow Me.
This year it’s based on The Book of Mormon.
It’s a way to study the scriptures in our church. Lots of helpful guides and ways to get closer to Jesus. You can find more about it here:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/come-follow-me/2023?lang=eng
I think that’s awesome!
xoxo
Love this idea! I’ll need lots of tips about how to do things with just one at home. Our youngest will be the only one at home from the time he’s in 6th grade. Our three older girls are fairly close in age and then he’s the caboose. I’m hoping he has some good friends during those teenage years and still enjoys time with mom and dad at least a little bit. I love the idea of combining FHE or other family activities with another family.
Shawni, have you recently read Sarah Turner’s blog? You might want to read the update.
Thank you for mentioning her blog a few years ago, I really enjoyed reading it.
Love this, there is always something you can do. We started doing FHE when the kids were little with extended family that lived close (we were lucky, we had 4 families). I loved it, we all took turns and had FHE at a different house every week, so we only had to plan a lesson every 4 weeks. We even continued this after the kids were grown, it was just us in-law adults, but we would still meet until COVID, that put a dent in our FHE get togethers. Our kids have good memories of those monday nights and still talk about them, they got to know their cousins and aunts and uncles much better after all those years of meeting weekly.