I Want A New One

Some evenings are better than others. Tonight was one of the "others."

The details are pretty irrelevant, but the long and short of it was that I couldn't quite get to their Bible story right away (because of a tantrum here and there, me having to run to do some laundry, etc), but I promised the kids I would come back to their room after they were in bed, and if they were quiet, would come in and read them a story from their all time favorite Bible.

Apparently, 5 minutes was too long to wait because when I walked in to the room to read their story, Matthew had the Bible in his bed and Michael was sitting in his bed, as close to Matthew's bed as he could get.

Both boys had torn pages in their hands. Yes. They were both caught right in the act.

I was a little stunned, and definitely disappointed. I love this book. We read from it every single day several times. The kids love this book.  To have it destroyed was not only frustrating because it's a book.  Not just because it was a Bible (albeit a children's one), but also because it represents a lot of time together, it represents an important part of our bedtime routine and our naptime routine. Matthew especially would frequently get that book and flip through the pages reading the story during the day. I know we can buy a new one, but even still, that's a couple of days until it would get here, and we are not sure we will get one right away so they understand that these things have consequences.  I was so disappointed.

So I walk in the room and the look on my face as I saw the papers strewn all over said it all, and immediately Michael realized what he did. It's like, he just wasn't thinking prior to that point and then all of a sudden he realized what just happened and that he was responsible for it! He instantly broke down in tears and yelled, "I want a new one!!"

Oddly enough, his plea and realization of what he had done was punishment enough. I didn't have to yell or scold. I just picked up the papers and walked out. It took him another while to mull that one over....

Haha. Toddlers.  Their emotional chaos can be so funny in a sad, pathetic sort of way.