Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sweet Lessons

My boys officially fried my phone. I gave it to Joey Tuesday evening to call Dad to see when he'd be home. Apparently he was pretty close because I heard the boys tearing outside a moment later. As they rushed outside I yelled "Joey, bring me back my phone." Apparently he didn't hear me, and I was in the middle of making dinner so I forgot about it until I needed to use my phone the next morning. Joey was already off at school, but Kimball brought it to me dripping water from the ice pack I gave him the night before.

When Joey got home I told him what happened (without getting upset--which is a new step for me, a very new and necessary step :) ). I just calmly stated the facts and waited to see what he would do. Joey took off upstairs and came down with his bank and said, "Mom, you should take some money." I told him that was very sweet of him, but I will try to dry it out first and see if it works. So today, after 24 hours of drying, it still does not work. When Joey asked about it again, I told him it really was broken. He asked, "did you take my money mom?" I told him no. He said, in a very grown up kind of voice, "you should."

Again he brought me his bank--his only valuable asset--opened it up, and said, "take some." I looked at the ten dollar bill (the savings from great-grandma's birthday gift), and a few coins, and I didn't know what to do. I said, "Joey, why don't you give me what you think you should give me for my phone." He pulled out the bill, a gold dollar coin and a nickle and asked, "how much is that?" I told him it was $11 and 5 cents. Looking a little dissatisfied he pulled out some more coins and asked, "mom, is that 1,000 now?"


Oh, what a sweet boy he is! I love him. He taught me again what a good soul he has. And a reconfirmation to me that getting upset does not teach anything. These sweet kids have such a strong desire to do what is right!

5 comments:

Keesha n David Brown said...

Wow!!!! That story brought tears to my eyes. I, too, am trying to be a lot more careful about how I respond in certain situations. I'm trying but still have a long way to go. You are an amazing example to me, Linds! I love you and I love your wonderful little family! These kids are definitely choice spirits saved for these days. Thanks for sharing this story!

Rachel Oswald said...

What a sweet mommy you are. Such a great example of patience in motherhood.

Carrie said...

I am crying. What a sweet boy and a great mom.

Camille said...

That is the sweetest story. You inspire me to be better. Such a good reminder that getting mad doesn't create teching moments like this one! And by the way, our iTouch got wet too, and it came to life for a day, then quit again, but they replaced it because it was still under warranty...is yours? Good luck!

Laura said...

I love this story. And HI! I finally found your blog again after I deleted all my stuff by accident one day. Heh. But thank you for posting this--I'm going to file this lesson away under Important Things to Remember for when my little bean gets old enough to break things. :)