Moving on...
I have a two year old. You all know her as Sesame. Mostly I relay messages of her hilarity, sense of song and frequent imaginary play sessions. Life, however, is not all rainbows and sunshine with her. Please do not mistake me, I adore her with all my heart and want the best for her. Which is why I decided to share this.
Today we arrived home from Bible Study, paired with a short trip to Pappy and Yia Yia's, just barely before nap time. I plucked Sesame from her seat, ran her through the misty rain and placed her in the entryway. I stooped down to her level and instructed, "Sesame, I want you to go to your room, take off your shoes, put them away and get into bed. It's nap time. Mommy will be in after I bring Squirt in from the car. Do you understand?" "Yes, Mommy, " she replied, "I understand."
I know that may seem like several instructions for a two (almost three) year old, but I know she is capable of completing such a list. I jaunted to car, snagged Z, carried him up to his room, plopped him in his crib and went to Sesame's room.
No Sesame.
I heard singing from downstairs. Loud, twirly "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" singing. I peered over the balcony to see my sweet Sesame twirling about the living room with her Little People, singing.
I zoomed down the stairs, mind racing as I went: Should I just gently correct her?? Should I spank her??? Should I give her time out?? What kind of offense is this?? Where in the scale of disobedience does this lie??
Scale of disobedience. There is no scale. There is obedient or not. She is clearly disobeying me. She knows if she is disobedient she gets spanked. No questions.
I grabbed her upper arm and turned her to me. "Sesame" she stared at me with wide eyes, knowing she was in trouble, "What did Mommy ask you to do?" "Go upstairs. To night night time." "Did you obey me?" "No, Mommy." tears commence. "Sesame, what happens when you disobey?" "I get a spanking."
She knew.
How like our walk with the Lord. He continually reminds us how to be obedient. When we fall He is there to pick us up - but loves us enough to allow us to endure consequences. Loves us enough to discipline us. He tells us ahead of time what the consequences of sin and disobedience are - and how to avoid them - yet we still fall over and over and over.
I suppose my thoughts on this topic were stirred up, not only due to this instant, but my time in the word - both through lectures and studies. In fact, I might be slightly plagiarizing* from a sermon I heard. The Lord is teaching me something and I'm willing to admit I don't know what yet and I'm a little scared. But this isn't about me.
I spanked Sesame and quickly hurried her up the stairs. I scooped her up into my arms, hugged her, told her I loved her but she must be obedient and then promptly tickled her.
The hug concluded the punishment. We'll tell Daddy what happened when he comes home, but other than that, it will not be brought up again. We moved on. When she wakes up from her nap, I'm going to take her out into the snow and make Parrot Poop helmets. Parrot Poop helmets are a blog entry all their own. I'll tell you sometime. I promise. I might even include pictures.
*Fantastic Sermon by Michael Boehm - which I will link to when it's posted. :)
1 comment:
I needed that. We are on the verge of graduating from time-out to spanking, because the offenses are becoming willful. And it is KILLING me. And I just needed to hear your mental distinction between obey and disobey -- there is no in-between. Thanks for sharing, Em.
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