"Gracious George"

September 2007, So This is Gracious George. We had one of the best Family Home Evenings about 4 weeks ago and I thought I would share it with anyone who may want to try it. Basically I read a story about Gracious George the Gingerbread man (very similar to the actual story but there is a small twist, George in this story does nice things for people as he runs away from them. Like weeding the garden for the man, doing the dishes for the woman, helping the little girl put a bandaid on her knee from falling, helping the boy by filling the tub for his bath, etc etc. As he runs away from each one he says run run as fast as you can you can't catch me I'm Gracious George the Gingerbread man. Anyway when the story is over you all decorate a little gracious george of your own (unless you have one which I did) then you tell your family that Gracious George will be in our house until next weeks FHE then choose someone to start. Then George goes around from family member to family member with all of you doing secret service things for one another only leaving George next to whatever they did. My kids LOVED it. Beds were made, shoes polished, shirts ironed, dishes done, windows cleaned, rooms & toyrooms cleaned, basically all kinds of things. And we also put a paper on the fridge that said Gracious George on it. Each time you were served you got to put a happy face on the paper. By the next weeks FHE we all loved doing G George so much we decided to keep him out and going and now almost 4 weeks later little G George is still appearing and reappearing places. It has been such a success for us, and all of us have become so much more charitable. Justin especially has loved it and even gets upset when someone catches him in the middle of doing his "George service" as he calls it, and then can't wait for the person to find it. (He is usually peeking his head around the corner giggling). Even Katie has found ways to serve even as small as she is. Anyway just a thought for anyone who wants a fun and great way to teach your kids or spouces how to serve one another more in a fun way. And best of all after you can make homemade gingerbread men for desert also just as fun. (I didn't have time for the gingerbread men so we had brownies but next time I will for sure).