May 15, 2008

All About TOBIN

It's time for the Tobin update, since I spotlighted the other kids recently!

Some of Tobin's current interests include superheroes, Star Wars, baseball, and Legos. Last night was the AWANA store, at which the kids get to spend their AWANA "bucks" that they have earned throughout the year by saying verses, bringing their books and Bibles, wearing their vests, and participating in theme nights. (Both Charis and Tobin had WAY more bucks than any kid should have, in my opinion, but that is a testimony to how hard they worked during the year!) Tobin's "purchases" included several superhero action figures and an X-Men puzzle, along with a few other miscellaneous things. Sigh. More stuff!!!

**********
Tobin is still an avid reader, and occasionally he pulls books off Ted's and my bookshelf to begin reading. He has started a hundred books, it seems, and we find them lying all over the house! He does manage to finish his own books from the library or the kid shelf. I think he doesn't want to admit that the titles that intrigue him from our shelves are really books that he is NOT yet ready for!

In the mornings Tobin often reads a chapter or so in the Bible we got for his birthday. He has made it through Genesis 30 or 31, he can't remember. :-)

**********
We've been battling a phase that I hope will soon pass--Tobin has had nightmares fairly often in the last few weeks. I remember he went through a phase like this quite awhile ago, but I don't recall him having problems in our new house. At any rate, he has awakened us a number of times because of scary dreams, and we are careful to pray with him when this happens as well as each night before he goes to sleep. He's always thrilled when he wakes up and announces at breakfast that he didn't have any scary dreams the night before, and then a few nights later he'll have another one and wake us up crying. Any ideas, you other moms who have been here before??

**********
One reason I postponed writing Tobin's update is that I felt so frustrated with him so much of the time over the last couple of weeks! It seemed that we were always dealing with his lack of self-control...being mean to his brother or sister or friends, yelling in frustration, crying at the drop of a hat, and so on. I was afraid that I might not be able to find anything good to write about this son of mine!

Praise the Lord, though, I can honestly say I am pleased with Tobin's behavior recently. After several deep conversations and prayer times with Tobin, plus some concentrated efforts to incorporate applicable Scripture verses into our daily routine, plus the leading I've had from the Lord to have a time of Bible study and prayer with the older 3 kids in the mornings...I think we are making some progress with this spiritual battle. I've seen Tobin become much more aware of what he is doing and how he is treating others, and he often happily points out to me just how kind or helpful he is being in a particular situation. (We'll work on the character trait of humility later!!) Tobin is an extremely bright kid who would definitely be labeled a troublemaker if he were in a classroom setting. Prayerfully, by keeping him at home for school, we can make the most of each opportunity to train him up in the Lord's way.

**********
A cute comment from Tobin recently...after I told him he might want to change out of his pants into something else because it was so warm out, he replied, "But Mom, I can't find any short-sleeved pants!"

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Nightmare suggestions:
1. Does he have a nightlight? That cured my niece's nightmares.
2. From "Creative Correction": Have him sleep with his Bible under his pillow. It helped her daughter.
3. Matthew pictures Jesus sitting in the chair in his room. That helps him be brave at night.

Hope one of those helps or gives you another idea!

Beverly said...

1. Yes, the boys have a lava lamp in their room. :-)
2. I like the Bible under the pillow idea...I don't remember reading about that, but then, I started that book a couple of years ago and am about 90% of the way through it!
3. I actually think having Tobin picture anyone sitting in his room would give him the heebie jeebies, even if it's Jesus!!

Anonymous said...

Jonathan was going through that a few months ago and he and Tobin are about the same age. He sleeps with a lamp on, so that didn't make any difference. We would just pray with him and tuck him back in like it sounds like you're doing. He eventually quit having the dreams again. Sorry I don't have more helpful advice! :(

Natalie

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if there are any favorite series that Tobin has. I'm always looking for suggestions for Jonathan. It's hard to know what to have him read since he's young but reads at such a high grade level.

Natalie