- A 2 year old crawled on all 4's all the way out of the building
- A 4 year old stood and made the loudest, most annoying sound possible for about 60 seconds straight, paused, then did it again, over and over.....
- A 3 year old cried to get out of the classroom, then cried to get back in
- Another 3 year old proudly announced to everyone in the hall: Mommy, I didn't bite anyone today!
- A 2 year old gritted her teeth, then pushed her friend down the slide
- A Walker with his right thumb in his mouth, and his left pointer in his nose
- A Walker who cried for his Dad and then cried harder when Dad arrived to take him home.
Kids can be weird. Kids do act like aliens from another planet. Kids can make you say:
- Why did you do that?
- What made you think that was a good choice?
- Where did you learn that?
- Why did you do that?
- Are you serious?
But when you stop and think about it.........they are pretty new to this planet. Preschoolers are months - maybe 4 years out of the womb, and we expect them to walk, talk, eat, potty, act like humans, and not be strange. I've been 48 years on this planet, and I still do things that make me go........seriously I can't believe I just said that.
Sometimes we need to give kids and each other the space to grow and mature and be who God created us to be. Sometimes we need to guide this growth. Sometimes we need to marvel at the wonder of God's creativity that we are all different and a little strange sometimes. Sometimes we need to correct Martian behavior because it is bad behavior. Sometimes these Martian outbursts provide the perfect opportunity to love on our kids and be thankful they landed in our family.
That is the hard job of parenting, deciding which to do, and then following through with it. How do you know which to do?
- Is it hurtful to someone else? Then correct it
- Is it cute or funny to others? Then laugh and go on, which sometimes means getting over your pride issue.
- Will it prevent him from being the adult God created him to be? Then show him a better way to behave or communicate.
- Is it inappropriate for her age? Then help her to put the behavior behind her and grow a little.
Is your PeeWee ever from Mars?
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1 comment:
S. is a pretty good PeeWee and probably his only martian trait is asking for a cup of milk as soon as I sit down. It's like he delibertly waits until my butt hits the seat. And apparently milk is the only beverage on his planet! I bought 2 gallons of milk yesterday--I came home today and we only have 1/2 gallon left! Surely that can't be bad for you, right? I guess I need to research that because my boy is going to turn into a cow! HA!
I have definitely seen martian activity in PWV (ex: running into the wall over and over again while giving me the "say something to me" look). I love those little martians though; they bring such joy and laughter.
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