Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Thrive In Gratitude: Are we all just 4 year olds?
Thrive In Gratitude: Are we all just 4 year olds?: Trey is my 4 and a half year old nephew. There's a large chunk of society that knows intimately what it's like to live with a 4 yr o...
Are we all just 4 year olds?
Trey is my 4 and a half year old nephew. There's a large chunk of society that knows intimately what it's like to live with a 4 yr old child or at least be very close to one. I'm not such a person. This is my rookie season and let me just say- wow. When my sister Kelly, his mother, asked him yesterday what he wanted to do he said "Maybe go for a walk down the road." Which sounded good to her and she started toward the preparation of such a walk. When she was prepared, she asked Trey if he was ready to go. By this time, maybe 5 minutes, he said he didn't want to go. You can imagine the frustration, right? But then he said "I didn't mean literally to go on a walk right now. You know, maybe later." Kelly and I just looked at each other and suppressed our laughter. Where does he come up with this stuff? Whatta kid.
The day before, when his father brought him out to help celebrate his half sister's 2nd birthday, his parents had a little discussion that went something like this-
Kelly -"He's still putting the heater on the side of the bathtub." (small electrical heater that sits on the floor to heat up the bathroom.)
Lance- "Buddy, you can not be doing that. What did I tell you about that? It could kill you."
Trey- makes no comment.
Lance - "He only did it that one time for me and hasn't done it since."
Kelly - "Well, the other day he about got himself electrocuted because he was dumping water out onto the floor, towards the heater!"
Trey- quite adamantly "No I wasn't!"
Kelly- "Yes you did, Trey."
Trey- "I did not!"
Kelly- "Oh really? Then how did the floor get all wet?"
Lance- "Were you making a lot of splashes?"
Trey- "NO! I wasn't dumping water on the floor! I was dumping it on the WALL!" He fiercely defended himself against the allegation that he was dumping it on the floor. We all sort of laughed under our breaths and tried to remain serious.
Lance- "Well, from now on how about we don't dump water on the wall or the floor?"
Trey- "Ok."
Whatta kid! Such logic! But such mischief!
He, and I'm assuming like most 4 year old children, tests the boundaries of his behaviors like a stealthy ninja, as was the case with the water dumping. I'm going to say that 99% of the time though, he tests those boundaries like a bull in a china closet. Defiantly doing the exact thing that he was told not to do, while looking at you of course. He's at the age that boundaries and limit setting are incredibly important but impossible to implement for this little bull. I can just imagine him thinking "You can't fence me in!" As if it were the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. He barrels headlong toward whatever it is he has his mind set to at the moment. He wants to have fun, play, wrestle, but never anything that requires sitting still. He's in constant motion and living in the world of his imagination. It is so fun and yet so scary at the same time. Limits and boundaries, rules and restrictions- we all know they are for his safety (You're gonna hurt yourself) and for his health (You are going to sit and eat something). Both of which seem like cruel torture to him, as one can hear by his very vocal reasonings of why he knows better.
Which reminds me a lot of being a christian. God has given us the Bible, and therefore our limits and boundaries, for our safety and well being- mental, physical, and spiritual. We rationalize that because the world is so "different" now that God is somehow a grouchy old man that tells us all the things we should not do. We nod and smile, and do exactly what we are told not to do. As if the text written thousands of years ago couldn't in any way, shape, or form apply to our lives today. I don't know about you, but when I look around society, watch the news, or come face to face with my own temptations, I think that we have a little bit too much of the "bull in the china closet syndrome". Making excuses to defend our behaviors and actions (I wasn't dumping water on the floor!). Thinking that we know best and wouldn't do "too much" of anything that might endanger our safety and well being. Thinking that bending the rules is somehow different than breaking them. We use God for our needs but refuse to heed Him in our deeds. Then we have the absolute nerve to say "How could God allow such pain and suffering?"
Shifting the blame to someone else seems like it's an epidemic around here. I'll use school aged children as an example. Kids get disciplined in school for bad behavior and parents come in furious that someone was treating their child that way, that it's their job to discipline their own children. Kids do poorly in school, and parents come in furious that someone isn't teaching their child the right way, because it's the teacher's job to do it. Parents that set priorities to the wrong things (sports vs homework; taking and doing what they want vs self control, discipline, and humbleness) gives the wrong message, and it is my belief that the entitled, disrespectful, valueless parents and kids in this country need a grouchy old man in their life. The good news is that there is one who is always available.
The day before, when his father brought him out to help celebrate his half sister's 2nd birthday, his parents had a little discussion that went something like this-
Kelly -"He's still putting the heater on the side of the bathtub." (small electrical heater that sits on the floor to heat up the bathroom.)
Lance- "Buddy, you can not be doing that. What did I tell you about that? It could kill you."
Trey- makes no comment.
Lance - "He only did it that one time for me and hasn't done it since."
Kelly - "Well, the other day he about got himself electrocuted because he was dumping water out onto the floor, towards the heater!"
Trey- quite adamantly "No I wasn't!"
Kelly- "Yes you did, Trey."
Trey- "I did not!"
Kelly- "Oh really? Then how did the floor get all wet?"
Lance- "Were you making a lot of splashes?"
Trey- "NO! I wasn't dumping water on the floor! I was dumping it on the WALL!" He fiercely defended himself against the allegation that he was dumping it on the floor. We all sort of laughed under our breaths and tried to remain serious.
Lance- "Well, from now on how about we don't dump water on the wall or the floor?"
Trey- "Ok."
Whatta kid! Such logic! But such mischief!
He, and I'm assuming like most 4 year old children, tests the boundaries of his behaviors like a stealthy ninja, as was the case with the water dumping. I'm going to say that 99% of the time though, he tests those boundaries like a bull in a china closet. Defiantly doing the exact thing that he was told not to do, while looking at you of course. He's at the age that boundaries and limit setting are incredibly important but impossible to implement for this little bull. I can just imagine him thinking "You can't fence me in!" As if it were the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. He barrels headlong toward whatever it is he has his mind set to at the moment. He wants to have fun, play, wrestle, but never anything that requires sitting still. He's in constant motion and living in the world of his imagination. It is so fun and yet so scary at the same time. Limits and boundaries, rules and restrictions- we all know they are for his safety (You're gonna hurt yourself) and for his health (You are going to sit and eat something). Both of which seem like cruel torture to him, as one can hear by his very vocal reasonings of why he knows better.
Which reminds me a lot of being a christian. God has given us the Bible, and therefore our limits and boundaries, for our safety and well being- mental, physical, and spiritual. We rationalize that because the world is so "different" now that God is somehow a grouchy old man that tells us all the things we should not do. We nod and smile, and do exactly what we are told not to do. As if the text written thousands of years ago couldn't in any way, shape, or form apply to our lives today. I don't know about you, but when I look around society, watch the news, or come face to face with my own temptations, I think that we have a little bit too much of the "bull in the china closet syndrome". Making excuses to defend our behaviors and actions (I wasn't dumping water on the floor!). Thinking that we know best and wouldn't do "too much" of anything that might endanger our safety and well being. Thinking that bending the rules is somehow different than breaking them. We use God for our needs but refuse to heed Him in our deeds. Then we have the absolute nerve to say "How could God allow such pain and suffering?"
Shifting the blame to someone else seems like it's an epidemic around here. I'll use school aged children as an example. Kids get disciplined in school for bad behavior and parents come in furious that someone was treating their child that way, that it's their job to discipline their own children. Kids do poorly in school, and parents come in furious that someone isn't teaching their child the right way, because it's the teacher's job to do it. Parents that set priorities to the wrong things (sports vs homework; taking and doing what they want vs self control, discipline, and humbleness) gives the wrong message, and it is my belief that the entitled, disrespectful, valueless parents and kids in this country need a grouchy old man in their life. The good news is that there is one who is always available.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)