Today's households usually have many different technologies. They range from the basic cell phones and computers, to advanced gaming systems. Our house only has one cell phone, one Playstation, and one Nintendo DS. I don't believe in having all that stuff, it just complicates the day. Because we don't have much, the boys have to share - great concept, huh? It doesn't always work out like I planned but, we work around that.
Jacob is learning to use the Nintendo with the skill of his older brothers. Therefore, he has to respect the rules, and he must relinquish the video game when it is someone else's turn to play. On the weekends when his brothers are gone, however, Jacob is king. He gets to play it without having to share, and he knows it!
The problem comes when Jacob gets distracted. Then the game system is usually put someplace it doesn't belong. That happened this last weekend. He stayed with his dad while I was at the OKC Zoo's Author Expo. Hot and tired, I drove up to the house to pick him up. I asked Jacob where the DS was, and he didn't know. We looked all over the house. It was nowhere to be found. I think we searched for an hour and never found it. I took Jacob into the living room, and we sat down and talked about his losing the game system. He started to cry as he repeated how sorry he was to have lost it.
Then, like a flash, he stood up and said, "Excuse me, Mom", and he watched me as he walked into the kitchen. I could hear him say in the tiniest voice, "Dear Jesus. I really am sorry that I lost the Nintendo DS. I know you saw us look everywhere for it but we can't find it. Can you help us? Amen."
How sweet was that? He walked over to me, and he said, "Mom, I knew we really needed help to find the DS so I asked Jesus. Do you think he knows where it is?"
I told him that I thought he did, but we also have to keep looking for it. I reminded him that it's the only one we have, and it is our responsibility to take good care of our toys. I said that I thought Jesus would probably want to teach him a lesson about it so He put it somewhere that was pretty hard to find. But if we worked hard, Jacob would learn to be a better custodian of his toys.
Jacob looked at me and then said, "Excuse me again, Mom."
He walked out of my sight, and I tiptoed close to see what he was doing. I saw my littlest baby, on his knees, with his hands locked tightly together. Then, without skipping a beat, Jacob said, "Dear Jesus. If you don't mind, can you put the Nintendo DS on the couch? Amen, again."
It's a start.
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