Look at how sweet he looks in this photo? This couldn’t possibly be the boy that slapped his Mommy in church when she told him to sit down. No, this could not be THAT boy. But it is!
This picture definitely tells me, “they can be taught.” We have been trying to get Ethan to fold his arms for prayer for more than a year. Not that I am comparing, but his sister Bella accomplished this at 11 months, Natalie (who at the time we thought was a difficult child) by about 16 months. Ethan is now 25 months. Was he not capable of it before? No, he was totally capable. He was just too stubborn.
Now our family prayer times consist of him sitting with his arms folded (as opposed to screaming b/c we hadn’t given him food yet) and mumbling his own prayer right along with the person saying the actual prayer. When its done he doesn’t SAY “amen”, he proclaims, “AMEN!” And then we proceed to praise him for a job well done.
This little victory tells me there will be other victories in the future. Someday he will understand that when he hits, he hurts. Someday he will listen to me when I say, “Stop!” Someday he will ask nicely and be patient. Someday. I am just hoping that it doesn’t take as long to get to some of those victories as it took to get to this one. Otherwise its going to be a long year. But, really, he can be taught.
1 comment:
Yes they can be taught. And someday you will know that you taught even if you think they have not learned when they come to you and say "Sorry Mom for everything I put you through while I was growing up." Hang in there. No one said it would be easy, just worth it!!
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