New Year's Resolution

I realize I have been quite lax in writing recently.  I'd like to blame it on the holidays, but it was probably just laziness.  And maybe it was a little bit because of the holidays.  Also, Aaron has been working all kinds of hours and weekends and I have been "plumb tuckered out" (nod to my semi-hillbilly upbringing).  Whatever the reason, I have felt quite guilty for not writing and have decided to make one of those dangerous New Year's Resolutions.  My resolve is to write something here every day.  This may mean I have to subject my readers (all ten or eleven of you) to all the inanities of my life just so that I have something to say, and by this time next year I'll either have no more readers or everyone will just beg me to stop.  Then there's always the chance that my New Year's Resolution will meet the same end that so many New Year's resolutions do...and I won't keep it.  But I am surely going to try.

Forgiveness

Lately, when Malachi gets in trouble, he immediately wails, "You're not gonna forgive me!" and buries his head in his arms.  Izzy is his little shadow, so he does it too, though he has even less idea of what it all means than Malachi.  It's quite a diversion from the issue at hand, whatever it may be, and I get frusterated about it sometimes.  I can't figure out where it came from.  But no matter where it came from, I can't ignore it, and I always tell Malachi, "Mommy will always forgive you."  To which he must reply, "Why?" because that is the favored question for both my little guys right now.  I tell him,"Because I love you, and love always forgives."  He hasn't quite gotten it yet, but it made me stop and think today.  "Love always forgives."  Even if they're wrong.  Even if they don't ask me to forgive them.  Even if they don't know they did anything wrong.  And not just my children.  As a follower of Christ, I'm called to "love my neighbor as myself."  I guess that means I should also forgive them.  Always.  Just like I forgive my boys.  Just like God forgives me.  And how often, when I mess up, do I immediately shout to God, "You won't forgive me!" and hide from Him. It's not too easy to have a relationship with a person you're hiding from.  But God says the same thing to me, I think....."I will always forgive you, because I love you, and love always forgives."  It's something to think about.

Persuading a Toddler

I find that my children are full of contradictions.  Malachi could sit for hours in front of the tv without moving a muscle, but he also jumps at the chance to go outside and play.  Izzy, on the other hand, can't sit still for more than a few minutes, and yet he never seems to want to go outside.  Malachi always wants him to come out and play with him, and I always want him to go out so I can have some peace.  Malachi and I will both try to convince him and the conversation will go something like this (as a side note, Izzy can talk a lot, but in the tradition of toddlers, his favorite word still seems to be "no"):

Me, "Izzy, don't you want to go outside?"
"No!"
Me, "Don't you want to go play hockey with Malachi?"
"No!"
Malachi, "Izzy, you want to come outside and see the airplane swing?"
"No!"
Me, "I bet Malachi would push you in the airplane swing if you went outside...."
"No!"
Malachi, "Izzy, do you want to go see the ship (a fort of sorts that Malachi built)?"
"No!"
Me, "You want to go out and ride your trike with Malachi?"
"No!"
Malachi is now tired of trying to persuade him nicely and tries threatening him with something like this, "Izzy!  If you don't go outside you're getting a spanking and you'll never see your blankie again and then you'll die!"
Izzy is not moved.  "No!"

In the end, I bribe him with a cookie.