Psalms 51:5 Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me
When the phone rang showing the number from the school, my heart sank.
"Here we go again, where is that little boy," I thought aloud.
As I answered the phone I heard a soft voice on the other end. The voice of none other than his 2nd grade teacher calmly telling me that my son had cleverly taken some of the classes pretend money from HER desk and now had loads of coins in HIS desk. I could not believe what I was hearing. I could barely respond. After apologizing several times and ensuring her I would handle this, I hung up the phone.
Now behavior was one thing but stealing, MY CHILD STEALING, that was something totally different. This couldn't be happening. I sat down with my husband and explained to him what the teacher told me. The wheels in my mind began to turn. I couldn't just give him a punishment, I needed him to learn a lesson about stealing.
Tip 1: Try to always implement Purposeful Parenting, don't just punish for the sake of punishing (i.e the word discipline comes from the root word disciple) but for the sake of teaching life lessons.
We called my son in the room and began talking to him, as we did we sent the oldest kids on a little mission.
Tip 2: Don't assume your child knows the 10 commandments from Birth, they must be taught them. Home is best the place for them to learn.
When we finished talking to him and explaining to him what the bible says about stealing, we had him head upstairs to bed. As he walked into his room and got his pajamas' on, he noticed something important was missing!
HIS BED!
Who could have taken his bed? He was upset! Someone had Stolen his bed. Something he needed, something that he had to have, SOMETHING THAT BELONGED TO HIM! How was he to go to sleep without a bed? As he went searching for his bed, I allowed him to feel all the emotions that go along with having something stolen from you.
Sad...Angry...Confused... Lost.
Tip 3: Always end by showing your child forgiveness and restoration so they will understand the nature of our Savior. (We are the first example of Christ that our children will see but our imperfections allow us to point them to a perfect savior)
The next day he went to school and apologized to his teacher. Although initially I felt embarrassed and upset, I knew that this wasn't behavior he had learned from my home nor was it representative of my family values. Rather than looking at what he had done as a representation of me and my parenting, I looked at it as a learning opportunity. I understood that if I handled this with wisdom, I could avoid future occurrences which was one of my goals.
At the end of the day he understood why stealing was wrong and God's forgiving and restorative nature. Now that was a lesson worth teaching!
Thank you for taking the time to read todays blog. Be Blessed and please share this blog with other parents!
1 comment :
Rachel, I really enjoyed reading your story. I know that your son willl cherish the memory of this experience in his early years of growing up. I sometime laugh at some of the things my mom had said or done with me when I was growing up, especially in school. Although, sometimes I did not like the outcome, I learned the importance of not doing, or saying something again. Your husband and yourself used great wisdom with your son, and I know not only did he learn the lesson of not stealing, and a forgiving Lord; but, the wisdom of his parents, which will follow him through LIFE. Thank you for you blog Rachel.
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