let me share with you what this girl is like with some examples-
last saturday dan and I were taking a nap. brookie was down and abi was watching a movie. about 20 mintues into our nap dan heard the front door open and close. it registered to him a bit later what he really heard… abi leaving. In her words she “ran away to play.” talked about freaked out! thankfully dan handled it because I would have done things a bit differently than he did. anyway, she had gone ACROSS and down the street to another house that was having a baby shower for the women and cases of beer for the men in the back. (I had seen them packing them in earlier that day). it was a really tough, learning situation for all of us here in this household. it was the first time we had ever had to really talk about how to give a consequence and how to really teach abi what is correct and not correct behavior. we wanted to give a “natural” consequence and not give something that would instill a hate… like giving her work. we don’t want her to think that work is a punishment (at least for this situation). so we chose that she is only allowed to play in the back yard for the time being, and when the other neighbors are out playing basketball, she isn’t allowed to go out for one time. If Abi run away again, she gets her beloved piggy blanket taken away… that brought some tears when we talked about this with her over FHE last night
We didn’t know how she would really take this whole idea of consequences for her action to run away. Would it even hit home? Well, about ten minutes after we talked to her, she heard the neighbors out playing basketball. When she realized that she couldn’t go out, she started crying. As much as it hurt to watch, Dan and I went around the corner and gave each other high fives! it worked!
abi asked for a “top knot” just like mine today.
and then there is this side of her… a conversation in the car today-
abi: (out of the blue) I wish I had a cape so I could save the world
me: oh? where did you learn about that?
abi: I don’t know… (silence)… Jesus and I are going to save the world
me: and does Jesus have a cape?
Abi: oh yeah, it’s just in his closet
only a girl would say he has one in his closet…
1 comment:
Of course. Why wouldn't Jesus have a Closet? and everything you would need in there like a cape?
we had to deal with running away to the front yard a lot when we first moved. Scary because of the busy road and our pond. (Rome LOVES to look at it and play in it) It really freaks you out! And how do you instill that caution-but-not-fear in them? He is much better now. Just have to watch his friends. They are only allowed out of the backyard with a parent, EVER.
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