Today my baby is 3 years old!

Do any of you remember when I live-blogged her birth? Yeah. Crazy times.

These days I find her doing stuff like this.

And this.

One day I walked by the laundry room and found her in here. I don’t even want to know what she had planned for that shish-ke-bob stick.

All that mischief is exhausting!

I think we’ll keep her.

I’ve been hearing for years that we have a problem with young people leaving the church in record numbers. People who care, and I am among them, wring our hands and look around at each other wondering, “What can we do?”.

One attempt to address this problem and make church more appealing to young people is to make it FUN, and sparkly, and engaging, and interactive, and F-U-N, FUN, FUN, FUN.

I’ve often thought this was about as misguided as handing out dollar bills at the door. I mean, sure, it would keep people coming back. But for what?

And let’s face it, if what young people really want is fun and interactive, why wouldn’t they just go to a karaoke bar? Karaoke bars specialize in fun. And when the church tries to mimic that, it’s just sad.

The church should not be about fun. Have you heard of Jesus? He bled and suffered a cruel death for you and me. The church should be about loving and serving and honoring a risen savior.

This article on the trend of teens being “fake Christians” hits the nail on the head:

“We think that they want cake, but they actually want steak and potatoes, and we keep giving them cake,” Corrie says.

Teens want to know what they are participating in is meaningful and important. They aren’t fooled with “mission trips” to Orlando, Florida. That’s karaoke.

This week our family had the opportunity to serve a community that had been hit hard by a tornado. We explained to our kids that we were going to serve because we want to be like Jesus, and He “came, not to be served, but to serve,” and Christians “love our neighbors as ourselves.”

From the article:

“If you don’t say you’re doing it because of your faith, kids are going to say my parents are really nice people,” Dean says. “It doesn’t register that faith is supposed to make you live differently unless parents help their kids connect the dots.”

We all served together, along side young and old, unloading an 18 wheeler full of disaster relief supplies for tornado victims who found their cars upside down in a neighbor’s yard, who crawled out from under mattresses in their bathtubs to find their roof and walls and all their possessions were gone.

80 year old men waited patiently while 7 and 9 year old girls worked together to carry heavy boxes that grown men could have easily handled alone. They know how critical it is to for the future of the church to do important things.

Why are young people leaving the church? Because karaoke bars are better at fun. Wake up, church. Stop competing with fun. We must be about the important business of loving God and the sometimes difficult and dirty business of loving and serving others.

We must give young people something worthwhile and important to dedicate themselves to.

Have you bought our ebook yet?

The 4 Moms of 35+ Kids are sharing vegetarian recipes today, so this is the day you find out The Smockity Family is not vegetarian.

As in, we like our meat.

But I don’t want to let you down, so I have dug around and found some vegetarian recipes for you.

Gluten Free Crustless Quiche

Vegetarian Chili Pie

Do these veggie cups even count as a recipe?

Okay, that’s all I’ve got. See I told you we love meat around here.

Now, be sure to visit the rest of my 4 Moms team to see what vegetarian recipes they are sharing.

• Raising Olives
• The Common Room
• Life in a Shoe

My Cami is at it again, with her twisted sense of humor. Be sure to click through to the blog to view this if you are reading from an email.

(Spoiler alert!)

Why give your kids worksheets on alphabetizing when they can practice the “real world” way?

Remember when I showed you our new bookshelves? I had organized them with biographies all on one row in alphabetical order, fiction on another row, history on another, etc. Well, as I suspected would happen, they didn’t stay looking this way for long.

It looked more like this last week. That’s when I reminded everyone how I wanted the books organized and reminded them of the rules of alphabetizing.

They set right to work and got it put back in shape in no time. (Many hands make light work, after all.) I even heard them discussing with each other the proper way to alphabetize while they were completing this task.

No boring worksheets on alphabetizing for us! We’ll use practical application instead.

Have you ever been frustrated by strawberries getting moldy only a day or two after you buy them?

I hate it when I find a great price on strawberries, and buy several cartons, only to find they have started to turn moldy the next day.

Here is a way to keep your strawberries fresh longer.

1. In a bowl, combine white vinegar and water in a 1:10 ratio. I used 1 cup of vinegar and 10 cups of water in the above photo.

2. Add strawberries.

3. Stir around to make sure all strawberries are covered with the water.

4. Let soak 10 minutes.

5. Drain.

6. Rinse if desired. (I did not rinse mine, and there was no vinegar taste at all.)

7. Pat dry and refrigerate.

My strawberries lasted 4 days after I bought them without a single sign of mold appearing. After that we dipped them in melted chocolate bark and shared them with friends, so no telling how long they would have gone mold-free.

This is the method I am using from now on to keep strawberries fresh longer. Now, you can use your un-moldy strawberries to make your own strawberry jam.

Special note: My brand new “30 Day Wholesome Talk Challenge” eBook will be released very soon, and my email subscribers will receive it FREE. Be sure to sign up to get free Smockity updates delivered to your inbox, and you’ll be the first to get my brand new eBook.

The 4 Moms of 35+ Kids are answering reader questions.

How do you teach sharing without forcing it?

I have shared my views on forced sharing before, and I stand by those and believe them strongly, even though I have been called “selfish” for them. (Thanks, “anonymous”.)

We have plenty of toys that belong to the whole family, like the Wii and the trampoline, so of course those must be shared. One thing we also do not force is “taking turns” as I have seen some parents enforce it. If little Billy is practicing back flips on the trampoline, and little Sarah comes along, we don’t make Billy “take turns”. Sarah must wait until Billy is through with his practice. There are plenty of hours in the day when no one is on the trampoline, and we won’t allow Sarah to dictate Billy’s schedule.

On the other hand, if Billy and Sarah are playing together on the trampoline, they must give each other equal time and opportunity. (If this cannot be worked out among themselves and Mama must intervene, the trampoline is given a time out.)

This works exactly like it does in the adult world. If I go into Walmart and see that someone is using my favorite shopping cart, I do not go to that person and whine, “It’s my turn! Share! MAMA!!!” I wait until the cart is available, and if it isn’t available on my schedule, that’s my tough luck.

If one of our children doesn’t want to share a privately owned toy, he may play with it in solitude. Children soon learn that it is fun to play together, and they will share their privately owned toys if they wish to be in the company of others. If they like solitude, and want to keep the private possession private, there is no harm that I can see in that.

Our 16yo son recently bought several different Rubik’s cubes and he doesn’t share those with anyone, nor do we expect him to. It is private property. I also do not share my cell phone or laptop or glasses with anyone else. I own them. They are mine. If I know of a case that compels me to voluntarily share those, then, of my own free will, I may make that decision. Wouldn’t it be ludicrous for someone to force me to share those? How would you feel if it was said that you must let your pastor play with your cell phone for the duration of his visit to your home? Why is it different with toys children have saved for and purchased with their own money?

Interestingly, our children are not selfish or greedy. They do understand property rights, though.

What sort of church services do you attend? How involved do you require the children to be? And at what age do you leave the decision up to them?

Our family attends Bible class and worship assembly on Sundays and Bible class on Wednesday evenings. We keep the children with us during the entire worship assembly, even when “children’s church” is available. You can read our thoughts on “children’s church” here.

We expect everyone, from infants to teens, to stand, sit, sing, pray, and listen when the worship leader says to stand, sit, sing, pray, and listen. Contrary to popular belief, this is not an impossibility.

Here are some tips for keeping children quiet and still in church, and our eBook, 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions, has a handy printable for taking notes during the sermon. It is done with easily recognizable pictures, so even our toddler is able to use this.

Church attendance is non-negotiable, no matter the age.

How do you handle when a young child points out someone’s differences, like saying a little person has a big head? Or a woman talks like a man? Or someone is “fat”?

Hoo-boy. I feel for ya on this one. We have one that was gifted at an early age with what we like to call “extreme honesty”. She eventually matured and learned discretion, but until then your only hope is to run like the wind in the opposite direction of big-headed people when that child is with you!

Now, be sure to see which questions The Common Room and Life in a Shoe answered.

Have you picked up my ebook, Homeschool Tips From a Homeschool Veteran? It is available FREE for Smockity Frocks Facebook fans for a very limited time. This free offer has expired, but you can still purchase the eBook here.

I’ll soon be ending this free offer and selling the book on Kindle via Amazon, or in pdf format through e-junkie. Be sure to get this FREE while you can!

And in slightly demented news, you should know that my kids enjoy some of the real, original versions of the fairy tales. They aren’t called “Grimm” for nothing! Have you read the originals? You can usually count on someone coming to a bloody end.

This gruesome poem by Roald Dahl is one of our favorites and is an oft requested read aloud.

So, in that vein, my 13 year old made a video of 2 ways to interpret a nursery rhyme. I love it when my kids crack me up! (Email viewers may need to click through to the post to view.)

This simple chocolate banana frozen treat has the texture and taste of ice cream without the hassle.

You can make this with 3 ingredients in 2 minutes! Super simple!

Chocolate Banana Frozen Treat Recipe (Serves 1)

• 2 frozen bananas
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa
• 2 Tablespoons milk (or enough to make texture smooth)

1. Place all ingredients in blender.

2. Blend.

3. Add more milk if desired texture is not achieved.

4. Enjoy!

And if you’d like to make another frozen banana treat, here is how to make chocolate banana pops.

UPDATE: This sale has ended.

*I earn a commission with each sale.

Are you tired yet of hearing about the biggest ebook sale in the history of ebook sales? Well, you won’t hear about it anymore after tomorrow, because that’s when the sale ends, and it won’t be coming back!

If you haven’t snagged your 97 ebook library by the end of the day Saturday, you won’t be able to take advantage of the great price of less than 31 cents per ebook. Then you’ll be kicking yourself, and nobody wants to see those kinds of acrobatics from someone your age. Am I right?

Remember, if there are books in the bundle you don’t need, you can give those to your friends, or you can even arrange with a friend to split the cost of $29.97 and divide the books between you.

This would be an awesome Mother’s Day gift to give yourself this year! Take a look at all the awesome you’ll be getting in your bundle, and don’t forget about the $140 worth of freebies that is included!

Don’t miss this sale! Buy yours today! (I am an affiliate and receive a portion of each sale in commission.)