Things are calming down here in South Korea in regards to the virus. A number of schools will be going back to the in-class format. I have absolutely loved this time with the boys, but it is time for a change. There is just way too much down-time in their daily routine.

What is their daily routine?

For Justin - He gets up a little before 8:00, hugs his father, gives me a hug, has a shower, eats breakfast, and then spends the morning online. Around 12:30 he sheepishly comes out from the study room, asks about lunch, makes a few jokes using an accent (he has many), and eats noodles.  After lunch, he sits in front of the computer for a few more hours, wanders into another room to take a nap or play a game for about an hour, and then wanders back. In the evenings, he is playing games, giving me a hard time, or just joking around with his father.

For Aidan - This child absolutely hates getting up in the morning. The wake up call starts at 7:45 and lasts until 8:15 or 8:30. I usually have to come back to wake him up about 3 times. He will sit down, eat breakfast, and enjoy his morning if he has had enough sleep. He is online with his teacher by 8:50 and offline by 9:20. He will do whatever it is the teacher asked him to do, and then wanders off to play games. He won't come for lunch until he is called. After lunch, he is off to Study Room. He usually plays outside for a few hours in the afternoon. He is also playing computer games in the evening. 

I should add that Aidan is the child who enjoys attention from the teacher the most. He would be considered the teacher's pet and he can turn on the charm in regards to this. He is not so charming if his food is cold or if you bother him or ask him to do something during a game. 

For Jordan - He is the first one up after me. He is actually pretty good at eating, getting dressed, washing his face and hands, and brushing his teeth. He is in a hurry so he can go play computer games before school starts. He is online by 9:00 am and he is done by 9:30 as well. He is then back to the computer games for the rest of the morning. He is a pickiest eater in the house. He wants to eat cereal, noodles, and rice and soup. He has quite a few preferences in terms of what kind of soup he likes which drives me crazy. In the afternoons, he goes to piano and plays outside. Sometimes he goes to play soccer in the soccer field beside his elementary school. 

A recent addition to the routine is to write in Korean and English diaries in the evening. Both Aidan and Jordan are able to churn out about ten sentences in Korean and two or three in English. I also love reading books to them in the evenings, but they do not seem to love this as much as I do. I am hoping to add handwriting to this little routine in the evenings, but we will see how things go.

Weekends, of course, are a little less stressful for my husband and myself. The boys are to help with cleaning up on Saturday mornings and then they are free to do what they want for the rest of the day. Sunday has turned into the most social day with church in the morning, a rather lazy afternoon, and our Sunday night family prayer meeting. 

What is your family doing? How have you passed the time during the quarantine?

My son Justin is pictured above. He is working with the sound team at church most Sundays.

There is a Bible Verse about hard work that is worth mentioning. “A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Proverbs 13:4

It may be difficult to teach children the value of discipline and hard and work, but it does have its rewards! 

Justin, my eldest son, came home from school last week with two awards. It was a pleasant surprise for this parent! He and his friends got a bronze medal for an English project where they interview yours truly about Sejong High School. The other project was more individual. He received a silver medal for creating an anti-smoking poster. Apparently, my child’s artistic talents are starting to blossom! And Daddy rewarded him with fried chicken as a late night snack.

The English project that he and his friends won for was something! I remember the day they interviewed me. I was simply asked to say, “Tell me about your school, Justin! I want to learn about your school!” It was one of those days where I had many small things to do and I was a little annoyed because it was an unusual request. The rest of the video is Justin and his friend walking around school showing anyone who was watching the video the buildings. The English was quite good even if my initial question was more than a little awkward!

Jordan also did some great work at school. He and his classmates put together a multicultural show for parents last Wednesday morning. They all prepared little dance numbers! Jordan was wearing a Chinese traditional hat and I was genuinely wondering what they were going to do before they started dancing to ‘Kung Fu Fighting’. His friends and he were reasonably coordinated as they performed it and the parents broke out into laughter when they heard the song. 

The other song that the whole class performed was ‘Jumbo’. It’s an African song that has a Korean counterpart. While they were performing I understood why I had heard him humming the song so many times at home. While they were doing it, I could hear many of them singing. And, of course, they broke out into hysterical laughter when it was all done! I commend the teacher for pushing all those second-graders to perform so well. I will remember that day for a long time!

Aidan and Jordan go to Taekwondo every night at 7:00. When they have worked hard, the teacher gives them tickets. These tickets are 10 points, 50 points, and 100 points. Aidan was pleased as pie to receive a ticket for 50 points last week. It was the same night that they all received chicken from Daddy so all was well with the world!

Hard work and perseverance are difficult things to teach. Each boy was able to show some aspect of perseverance last week and I was very proud of them all!

“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Proverbs 13: 4

—--

Advent begins on Sunday. They boys looks forward to the little chocolate gifts in the Advent Calendar but I look forward to the read-alouds!

My family will be reading Ann Voskamp's The Wonder of the Greatest Gift along with other holiday favorites. This year I will wrap up books for them to choose, two or three, and we will read that book in the evening. We will light candles, read The Wonder of the Greatest Gift, hang an ornament on the tree, and read the book they have chosen. I look forward to this bonding time with the boys!

____

For those of you who are curious, there has been a delay with the book I’m publishing. The Giver: The Life of Jesus and the Book of Acts (Fifty Sermons for Children) will be published in January. I am still very excited about the book!  I hope you will be too! 

It is no secret that the Kim clan loves the printed word. There are reading and study nooks in almost every corner of our home. Despite the clutter, I believe that books should be everywhere to inspire the boys to read. And they do read. Picture books, comic books, and early chapter books are all over the house. 

Over the past six weeks, Aidan and Jordan have been participating in a book contest designed by yours truly. I give them points for listening to picture books in English, more points for short chapters books, and lots of points for comic books. I will say that there is a magic to comic books. 

The magic of comic books started with Justin. He has probably 30 Maple Story comic books that he started reading in elementary school. Aidan and Jordan both love the Dragon Village  comics where dragons fight out epic battles of good and evil. The latest comic book series has been Kakao friends which is a great package of comic book plus little gift. There is also a comic book series for Old Testament and New Testament stories that is very, very good. The boys got their points doubled on Sunday if they read anything from this series. 

I also love the Why? books that so well done here. There are why? books for just about everything that I used to find in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Aidan and Jordan have learned about the South Korean president and the beloved figure skater Kim Yun-ah. 

We've been able to do this also because of the development of libraries. Our little local library in Jochiwon has a great selection of English books. As well, there is another great library in Sejong City. We go every two weeks on Saturday and stay for a couple of hours. 

The how-to's of this have been worked out over the years. First, they are allowed to pick books that they want to read, not just what I want them to read. Second, I have had to let go of the idea of them reading well in English. They do not read terribly well in English yet, but progress is being made slowly with the read-alouds we do for points. Related to the English is challenge is the Bible verse challenge. They are to practice handwriting in English every weekday with some material that I picked up years ago. It's a short 5 to 10 minutes period where they learn the printed and cursive alphabet. Third, the read-alouds are generally pretty short.  10 to 15 minutes is what they can handle in terms of listening in English. Fourth, I aim for short reading periods when they read on their own. These periods are before bedtime. Devices are to be turned off at 8:00, and the books come out. EPIC is the one exception to this as that application has so many beautiful book options. 

The boys have earned a lot of points, and I want to do something to celebrate this. Interestingly, Jordan pulled ahead of Aidan in terms of points and that's when the idea of cooperation popped into my head. (Aidan is still trying to figure out how his brother go ahead of him!!?!!) We need to go to an amusement park or a movie to celebrate their achievement of over 6000 collective points. 

Reading is a gift to their development. The concentration and perseverance it takes to read through an entire book relates back to their character development. They are developing patience, faithfulness, and self-control, all fruits of the Spirit. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Summer 2016 proved to be a whirlwind for our family.  Aidan and Jordan fell in love with my sister's dogs and their second cousins in Canada.  Every night I hear prayers for Cael, Austin, Mikey, and Phoenix (these would be the cousins!) and for Sadie, Storm, and Spike! Too cute!

In other news, the Summer Bible Adventure finished at church at the end of August.  The kids had been in learning stations all summer long which was very cool.  One of the stations was a reading nook which was very cool! My cute little Jordan won a third place prize by reading/looking at 18 books! I thank the person who helped him 'read' all those books.  But it's had a good effect...

We have a wonderful picture book on the bookshelf entitled ...

Jordan loves this book and its fun quirky pictures! I have watched him a few times pull the book off the shelf close to bed time, turn the pages, look at the pictures, and 'read' the book to himself.  "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.  I don't know why she swallowed the fly.  Perhaps she will die...There was an old lady who swallowed a spider.  It wiggled inside her..."  

We have extended the reading nook idea into our bedtime routine. Everyone pulls 3 books off the shelf they want to 'read' before bed.  Guess which book Jordan pulls out?

Another fun story happened last week with our weekly Bible verse.  The earth belongs to God.  Everything in all the world is His.  Psalm 24:1.  We read this verse out loud together at the supper table.  Aidan got very quiet and I saw his eyes moving up and down.  

​"Really?  Does God really own everything?"  

"Yes, honey!"

"Does he own this building?"

"In a way, yes!"

"How is that possible?"

"Well, He made you and me made me and he made the men who built this building.  Because the men can't take the building with them when they die, they don't really own the building."

"That's really amazing when you think about it!"

"It is!  It really is!"

Another related story is about him rushing into the house at 3:58 on Tuesday afternoon!

"Mom, I'm late!  Can you give me a ride to Taekwondo!"

"I can't today.  I'm busy working.  Your fast feet will have to carry you!"

"I don't have fast feet.  Mom, please help! I am going to change my clothes and come back."

I continue to work not even thinking about the request.

"Mom, I've changed my clothes!  Can you please give me a ride?  I hate being late.  You hate being late.  I'm just like you!  Help me not to be late please!"

"Aidan, were you playing with your friends outside?"

"No, I came straight from piano!  I'm just late."

After a few more questions determining that he had not been outside playing with anyone, I did give him a ride.  Like mother, like son for this one!

And Justin.  What is there to say about Justin?  Well, I'll leave a few highlights here.  Puberty is upon us.  I have man-child.  His voice is starting to change.  He sings opera in the shower.  He dances when he comes out of the shower.  He loves to tease his brothers!  He loves to tease his mother! He loves to have fun even when he is the only one laughing...  and I will spare you the joy of pictures of him dancing after the shower!

In other news, Hansung and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary over the weekend.  18 years!  How did that happen so quickly?