“I, the Lord, will teach your children, and they will have
real peace." ~ Isaiah 54:13
Like a lot of married couples,
Eric and Cindy rarely found time for each other. With two small children, their six-year
wedding anniversary came and went last June and until tonight; they’d yet to
celebrate the occasion.
Their first night out in years didn’t start well. The babysitter arrived late, he failed to
notice the stain on his favorite tie, she couldn’t find her comfortable shoes.
He tried a joke to liven things up. “What’s the difference between a monkey, an
orphan, a prince, and Bald Eric? A
monkey has a hairy parent, an orphan has nary a parent, a prince is an heir
apparent, and I have no hair apparent,” he laughed as he stroked his
hairless-scalp.
Cindy smiled. “I love
you Cue-ball.”
Cinderella’s Ball it wasn’t, but then again post-baby dates weren’t
meant to sweep you off your feet. Dating
was an acquired skill - they’d get better at this with practice.
While they were gone, the babysitter paid more attention to
her cell phone texts than the children. Samuel, the four-year old took his dull, round
tipped scissors and cut as much of his hair as he could before the sitter closed down
the ‘barbershop.’
Upon their return home, Eric eyed the boy furiously. He grabbed Samuel roughly and prepared to
give him a spanking he’d not soon forget.
The child, hoping to save himself a whoopin’ looked up at
his angry father and said eagerly “Wait until you see Emma!"
Cindy, followed by Eric still clasping Samuel, rushed to the
two-year old’s room to find her waist-length hair in a pile beside her. Teddy Bear, the only witness to the crime, was
propped next to her leg utterly covered with Emma’s curls.
Even at two, Emma must have been able to read her mother’s
disappointment as she raised her innocent eyes from the pile of long hair to
her mother’s horrified expression.
"But
Mommy,” the youngster began. “Me and Sam
were just trying to look like Daddy.”
There are some rites of passage that are pleasurable for
parents. The first smile! The first steps! And then there is the very
first time you discover your child has gotten hold of a pair of scissors and
given something - or worse, someone - a haircut.
But this is what kids DO! We did it. Our parents did it. There's no shelf high enough for a four-year-old
who can push a chair. If it hasn't
happened in your home . . . it will. Just wait until you hear their explanation
before you decide how to handle it! You
never know what they'll have to say!
Just be glad they don’t chose to imitate a surgeon.
Children possess brilliance in their
simplicity. They lack fear and social
boundaries. They have endless curiosity
and love without expectation. Love them
as I love you. It's Ok to be childish; maturity is grossly overrated anyway. ~ God
