I have a little blogging business to take care of before I get to my story today. Hang with me a second. Because here is the deal, today I am being featured over at And Babies Don't Keep! How? Why? What? See awhile back I linked up with Kristi's Storytellers Linkup. I shared what I thought was a funny story and enjoyed reading others' stories. End of story. Or so I thought:) Then out of the blue I received a request from Kristi to feature my story on her blog!!!! (Does the number of explanation points give away just how excited I was by this request?! I was SUPER excited. Embarrassingly excited.)
So head on over and check it out. I also recommend you stay awhile and read what Kristi has to share. She is a genuine, sweet mother of three adorable girls and the wife of a pastor. She writes funny and informative stuff. Good stuff. I always enjoy reading what she wrote. And I think you will too. Oh and Wednesday, August 13 is her next Storyteller Linkup. Be sure to check it out for even more heartfelt stories. Join the fun. Read, comment and share. Link-up too! Everyone is welcome. You better believe this very post will be linked up:)
Thanks for having me Kristi!
Ok. Ok. Enough prattle. Without further ado, the real teachable moment...
At 10 am it was 60 and cloudy. The expected high for the day was 64. No sunshine. Not exactly beach weather! So there we were ready for the beach but clearly not going to the beach. You can imagine how well this news went over with the seven and under crowd. Not well. To say the least.
Quickly I changed gears (and clothes!), loaded up my crew and headed to the MALL! Oh the excitement! Ok. Not really. But it was a better option than staying home and trying to stop all the running and screaming that ensues within this too small apartment...every day...all day.
Over our gourmet food court meal a teachable moment arose. A little girl in a wheelchair was pushed past our table. Isaiah pointed her out to me and mentioned that her face "looked weird" (thankfully she was well out of earshot at this point!). I grabbed the opportunity for all it was worth and discussed with my children that even though someone may look different they are still a person. A person with thoughts and ideas and feelings. And for that reason it isn't acceptable to point or make rude remarks. We don't want to hurt other people's feelings...intentionally or not. The discussion went well. My point was made and understood. I wrapped it and lunch up and we headed into Target to grab a few things. (Target is attached to the mall here. So fancy.)
As we were walking through Target I heard a child throwing a fit. I could not see this child but I could most definitely hear what sounded like a MAJOR tantrum. I thanked my lucky stars it wasn't my child and kept walking. We turned a corner and there he was...the fit thrower in all his red faced, arms flying glory. My kids stopped and stared. Stunned by his performance. I herded them along. Initially I wasn't going to say anything about the fit thrower, but Isaiah (without prompting) told me why he thought the boy was so upset. The boy was holding a toy car. Isaiah deduced from the situation that the boy wanted the new toy but his mom was not buying it for him.
So again I took the opportunity that presented itself and ran with it (because again we were out of earshot of the person I was using to teach my children). I asked my kids if they thought screaming and crying was going to help that child get what he wants. They both quickly agreed NO it wasn't the right tactic. But Isaiah continued to defend the child and explained to me that sometimes when you really want something and you can't have it it makes you MAD and you want to yell. I then continued on my "screaming and crying won't get you what you want" lesson. Just as we were turning a corner (literally, not figuratively) and intersected with another shopper (a lady in her mid forties) Isaiah loudly and matter-of-factly made his final argument, "But mom, YOU yell at us when YOU are mad."
Ouch. Guilty as charged. And I admitted it with a red face and a tear in my eye. And here I thought the moment was going to teach my kids a valuable lesson!
(Thankfully my fellow shopper was gracious. Which unfortunately isn't always the case. She chuckled. And then admitted that if her kids were with her they would/could say the same thing.)
And now because a post without a picture is just pathetic. The only picture I took on Tuesday at the mall.
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