Day 18: The Lesson of the Broken CrossLittle Lady wanted to hold the Easter cross ornament in the store today. After fumbling around with it and being told SEVERAL times that she needed to hold it carefully or it could break, she dropped it…and it shattered into four pieces.
She of course cried and had a fit…and then tried to hide it on a low shelf and walk away!
Halt! Not ok on so many levels!
Forget the rest of the schedule: sit down in the aisle and work this out.
“How did the cross get broken?”
“It fell.”
“No, it was dropped…by who? Yes, you. Why?”
“Because I didn’t do what my Mommy told me. I made a bad choice Waaaaaaaaah…”
“How can we fix this mistake?”
“Put it back on the shelf for the lady.”
“What lady?”
“The lady who fixes things.”
“Nope- try again.”
“Take it home- I can fix it. I am good at fixing things. I can use tape and glue.”
“Will it be the same as it was when we found it?”
“No…but it will be ok. I will still love it because it’s Jesus’s cross, and He forgives us when we make mistakes.”
Ahhhhh-haaaaaaaaaa…excellent.
SO glad I took the time to sort this out instead of just getting angry and moving on with a bad attitude on both of us all afternoon. Little Lady carried the broken pieces all the way through the rest of the shopping trip, apologized to the cashier, and handed her the dollars to pay for it.
Next on the agenda: working through how to handle it when Little Lady asks the cashier to pray with her about the broken cross, and the cashier looks at her like she’s from Mars…hmmm…perhaps something for a future post…
Question to think on: what do our responses to bad choices teach the little ones about love, patience, punishment, and forgiveness?
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