She Gets It

"This is Chloe with a mad face."
-Chloe

I am extremely proud of my children. Everyone knows that, but mommy brag time usually doesn't fit with the theme of this blog. That's why I'm so thrilled today. I want to share with you an experience that happened yesterday. My husband had come home from the hospital early because he was scheduled for an overnight shift starting that evening. My two older boys were at school and the baby was in bed. So, my husband and I had the rare opportunity to sit down to lunch together, with just our daughter. Chloe is an amazing little girl. She's so different from her brothers and she's been a blessing in our lives since she was born in January of 2006. It happened that my husband had Glenn Beck playing when I called him for lunch. He left the radio program on in the background.

The show was nothing but a buzz in the background until it went to commercial. The animated voices and increase in volume caught our attention and we fell silent and listened to deep man's voice saying, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people."

A female voice cut in, sounding distressed, "I don't know how it happened. I only had a few drinks at dinner and then I was charged with a DUI."

As the male voice started explaining how a certain lawyer was going to rescue the poor woman, my husband intoned a sarcastic, "Ya," and I said, "I'm feeling the sympathy."

Chloe, my precious little three-year-old, had the look that cartoons get when a light bulb appears over their heads. Very seriously, she intoned, "Mommy," She paused, as if thinking hard about it and then continued, "When you make bad choices, bad things happen." My husband and I both turned to look at her, shocked by the totally appropriate comment coming from such a tiny voice. But she wasn't done. She continued, "And when you make good choices, good things happen."

Skeptics may point out that she was just parroting things her mother says to her. And she is. But here's the point: She understands what those words mean and was able to apply them to an appropriate situation. It is never too early to teach your children about the responsibility that comes with the God-given gift of free agency. I am a very proud mom. And my greatest ambition is that the next time she hears the commercial that says, "Are you over your head in credit card debt? Well, it's not your fault..." she will know it for the lie it is.

Of course bad things happen to good people. But even children can understand that it is our choices that determine our destiny. Understanding this principle is the only way to guarantee our personal freedom and the freedom of our precious children.

(To be fair...I should point out that I left my darling girl with her daddy while I went to pick up my oldest from school. When I came home, she was in my bedroom painting the mirror, door, and carpet with my foundation cream. While I was attempting to scrub the make-up out of the carpet, she ventured into the bathroom and emptied my diaper pail into the toilet. Understanding doesn't mean obeying...but we're making good progress!)