As parents we have our fair share of trials and challenges with each individual child in our family. I have to say though that the twins tend to top them all. Sure, we’ve dealt with imaginative children before and we’ve also dealt with common childhood issues such as taking things that do not belong to you. But when it is at the hands (or out of the mouths) of our twins, it becomes something entirely unique to any situation we’ve handled before.
Monkey took a toy phone from church. I know…gasp! He stole from the house of God for heaven’s sake! His brothers were mortified (like none of them have tried). He kept defending himself…”I didn’t steal from God’s house! I didn’t.” After which, Bug would promptly tattle, “Monkey stole from God’s hooooouse.” SIGH.
This continued for most of the ride home. The funny part is that it’s a Tinkerbell toy phone and the older boys are simply having a little too much fun teasing him about the fact that he took a girls’ toy…in addition to the reminders that he stole from God.
This is one of those “un-fun” issues of parenting. Dealing with behaviors and challenges that are potentially unpleasant or embarassing. Thankfully, he’s three…and although I may have been horrified by his actions had he been my first or second child, I have been around the block enough to know by now that this is simply normal behavior and if handled correctly, it will pass quickly.
Does that mean he will never do it again? No.
Does it mean that others will see it as a simple toddler thing to do? It depends.
I’m not afraid of what others think. This is a simple matter of teaching a child right from wrong. He will quietly return it to his classroom next week and he will tell his teacher that he’s sorry for taking the phone. And the lesson will likely need to be taught to him again.
It’s so much easier to deal with this issue in a child at the age of three than it is to handle with a child who is 10! The price to be paid is so much higher for the older child and in some ways it can be an even more poignant lesson. We’ll cross that bridge if/when we get to it though.
On the flip side, I had a shocking thought in the midst of all of this…let’s make sure we aren’t stealing from God either. No, of course I don’t mean physical possessions. I mean His purpose, will and plan for our lives can be something we take away if we refuse to listen to and follow Him, and that’s just one example of how we can take away from Him.
In some ways, we we continue learning the same lessons our entire life. I think in our own way, even as adults you can see some of the exact same little child behaviors that we are much too big for, the only difference is that they are now aimed at our Heavenly Father.
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