family friday: little houseFebruary 3rd, 2012 4 comments

Each Friday, I open the door to the Adkins house and share a bit of the cool or the crazy.

You’ve probably heard the statistics: kids who regularly eat at the dinner table with their parents are less likely to fall behind in school, do drugs, or join a tambourine-wielding cult.

Because we’d like to avoid these outcomes, and because we sometimes like each other, the Adkins sit down to meal together when we can. That usually works out to about three or four times a week, and if you believe in math and corporate-sponsored research, that should keep at least two of our kids out of rehab. I guess we’ll just have to trust God for the other one.

One of the joys of the past year has been using some of this family dinner time to share a treasure from my childhood with my children: The LIttle House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

We read a chapter together after the meal, learning about the faith and struggle of this simple pioneer family. At first, The Pastor was skeptical, and The Teenager occasionally rolls his eyes, but they’ve all been captivated by the story, as these children’s books are anything but kid stuff.

We just started the fifth book of nine. The kids are learning a little history, the fam is making a little memory, and my heart and eyes are often filled to overflowing as I pass a beautiful part of my past into the hands of the future.

4 Comments

1. 

   Abby

   February 3, 2012 at 5:41 pm · Reply

   I loved that series. My mom read those books to me, and when I graduated to reading “chapter books”, I re-read them to myself. I admire the author’s sincerity and candor as well as the fortitude and self-reliance of the family. I remember wishing I could live in that world where things were simpler and distractions were few.

2. 

   Christie Garrett

   February 3, 2012 at 9:23 pm · Reply

   I remember being envious of the life presented in those books, too. Until I gave birth and became increasingly thankful for pain medication Pioneer women were no joke. I wouldn’t cross one.

3. 

   Nanette

   March 30, 2012 at 1:03 pm · Reply

   You’re a woman after my own heart! Love this.

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