We seemed to make it past the "terrible twos" without too many tantrums or attitudes. When we hit the "trying threes" our days were often filled with fits and spankings, time outs, or whatever would work! And now we are in what I like to call the "frustrating fours."
Callie is very opinionated. She knows exactly what she wants and she wants it RIGHT NOW. We recently had to get onto her for telling mommy and daddy, "I want it NOW." We explained to her that we can't always have things immediately. Of course, that's very difficult for a child that was pretty much the CENTER OF ATTENTION for her first 3 years of life, to understand. We have talked to her about being patient, and that sometimes we have to wait for things.
In this process of learning to be patient, Callie has started to show signs of anger. Yesterday evening I heard her tell her dad "I'm so mad at you." I couldn't believe my ears! We quickly told her that was not polite and not something that we said to our parents. She said, "I'm mad because you won't let me do things." We started listing ALL the things she had done that day, treats she had received, and special attention she'd had. Callie then replied, "Yes, but I'm mad because you wouldn't let me pick out my shirt, and you said I couldn't have a snack when I wanted one." WOW! We used this is a time to tell her that we can't always have exactly what we want.
I figured we probably wouldn't have to deal with this scenerio again anytime soon. But, I was wrong! Trey and Callie spent almost an hour playing together while Ashtyn took a nap this morning and I chatted with my mom on the phone. We love when we can give Callie some special one-on-one attention! Well, after they had played for a while and Ash woke up from her nap, we got busy doing other things. Callie asked for something and was told "no." She responded, "Ugh, I'm so mad because you won't let me have what I want or do what I want to do."
While she was in a time-out for this, Trey and I discussed how ungrateful she is. She had an entire morning full of treats, playtime, favorite cartoons and undivided attention. But the second she didn't get something she wanted, she was upset. She couldn't understand why she can't just have everything she wants, whenever she wants it. We told her that mommy and daddy know what is best for her. And, sometimes we just don't get what we want.
As I was thinking about all this, I couldn't help but think that we are so much like a little child when we relate to our Heavenly Father. We accept all the blessings that God gives us, and love when He answers our prayers in the way we wanted. But, when God tells us "wait" or "no," we pout and get angry. No matter how many things the Lord has provided us with, we are ungrateful. We can't see all the good things, because we are so focused on the negative, the unanswered prayers.
I believe God uses our children to teach us valuable truths. I didn't need my 4 year old to act in this way for me to realize that I am ungrateful. But, just as we used this as a teachable moment to talk to Callie about patience and acceptance, God used it as an opportunity to teach me about the same things.
No comments:
Post a Comment