Choosing to be happy

One of the things that I've enjoyed most about having adult children is seeing them make righteous choices and work hard at teaching their children the gospel. It makes me happy to read the scriptures with them before bed, or to hear our granddaughters say the blessing. This week, we had the opportunity to go to Virginia to see our newest grandson, Tanner. He is adorable! On Monday night, we had Family Home Evening with Joseph and Tracy and Afton (and Tanner, although he did not participate much.) It had been a day filled with the power struggles and tears that sometimes happen as children learn to exert their independence and test boundaries.

After an opening song--"Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"--we had a little lesson. It was about the fact that we can choose to be happy or we can choose to be sad. Choosing to be happy makes life more fun and peaceful. Minding Mommy and Daddy cheerfully leads to being happy. Choosing otherwise brings sadness. It was a very short lesson; Afton is only three. For the talent portion, Afton showed us how she can bounce on her bouncing ball thingy. We had made chocolate chips cookies earlier while we waited for Daddy to come home. The closing song was "Popcorn". The closing prayer, by Afton, included three mentions of our thankfulness for chocolate chip cookies. It was a sweet, calm family night, although Afton did not appear to be paying more than minimal attention.

Later one that evening, Afton was sitting at the kitchen table doing something. The rest of us were in the living room. Tanner was fussing. Afton loudly announced from the kitchen, "Tanner needs to choose to be happy....like ME!" Hahahahaha....she was obviously paying attention.