Day 19

Here in Oregon we get a lot of rain (in case I didn't need to point that out). Our cars often suffer from a lack of washing and cleaning. This past Saturday was a glorious day. Bright sun shine, 70 degrees, slight breeze....perfect. I decided it was time to wash the cars, knowing full well that it was going to rain on Sunday. Evan wanted to help me wash them. Not my idea of a good time.....giving a three year old a hose, bucket and a wet rag. I saw myself as the one getting washed and not the cars. To be honest, I just wanted to get the job done and move on to something else that was more fun. Between Elissa and Evan they convinced me to let him help. It ended up being a great experience and he did an amazing job.

I learned two things from this exercise. First, I don't give my son enough credit. I saw all the bad things that could come from this....the soaking wet dad, slow job, job not done to my requirements etc. To my great surprise he came out and did exactly what I needed/wanted him to do. Lesson learned; trust my son to be a real help to me.

Secondly, I found a teachable moment for him. We have been struggling a little bit with teaching him to take care of his things. Maybe this is natural for little boys, but

it's frustrating as a parent. He seems to like to break things and doesn't have a whole lot of remorse when he does it. We have tried the tactic that once it is gone you can't get it back. He says okay and then breaks it anyway. We explain how this is not caring for the things that God has given you and how we need to take better care of our things.

So here we are washing the cars and he asks me why we are doing this. Great question and a even better opportunity. I explained to him that we need to take care of our things so that they will last. We need to keep them clean and pay careful attention to how we use them. I explain that God gives us these gifts and they are ours to be good with (stewardship is too big a word for him). It seemed to make him wash the car even harder. Lesson learned; my son is capable of getting it, but it takes constant reminder and tangible modeling.

Today I am thankful for teachable moments for both myself and my children.