Teaching by Example
Katie was feeling pretty bad on Saturday so we decided that I would stay home from church with her the next day. Cathy had to cook a breakfast casserole for our yearly Sunday school breakfast so she had to take that in. I wanted her to get the credit she deserved for all the hard work she put into that casserole...plus, if it was anything like last year’s casserole I didn't want to be seen anywhere near it. OK, I admit it, I told Katie to act like she was gonna throw up because I remembered how bad that casserole was last year. Look, those people have just recently started talking to me again and I’m not sure I can go through that for another year. Plus, I still get a thank you note from that one dude every time he gets diarrhea…hey dude, I didn’t cook it!
Today was going to be a day chock full of learning. I think that as parents we should teach our children by example. I've never understood parents who smoke or drink and then tell their kids not to, I just don't think that sends the right message. Yet we also need to be creative in how we teach our children, they don't enjoy learning through lecture format or classroom environments near as much as they do through practical experience. So once in a great while we need to plan a day of teaching out of the box, in my case, way out of the box. Today I decided to let Katie learn some enormous life lessons through mistakes that I purposely made. Of course, being the natural actor I am, she's gonna think she's the teacher today...she'll love it! Yesterday Katie had asked me what an anniversary was...I think there was a mention of it on TV, I can't really remember what prompted the question. But I explained it in terms of Cathy and my wedding anniversary and how we celebrate our marriage every year on the same day. That little conversation comes into play later in the story.
After Cathy left for church, Katie was lying on the couch watching TV and I was outside fiddling around in the back yard, checking on our plants, pulling a few weeds, whatever. Bunny, our fourteen year old cat, was following along and as we got around to the deck she suddenly zoomed ahead through the bushes. I knew what was going to happen next because I've seen her catch many a chipmunk. She eats them whole, the feet, the ears, the tail, every delicious little morsel. She used to bring them to us to get our approval but I always rescued the cute little buggers. I don't want to be the one responsible for Alvin not singing in next year's Christmas special. So when she took off, so did I, yelling and screaming, hoping to distract her. She wasn't listening very well and since I had left the back door open she ran inside the house with the live chipmunk in her mouth. Scary thoughts began to race through my head of how that chipmunk was gonna ruin most everything in our house, thank goodness Bunny let me catch up to her and she actually released Alvin into my hands. As I'm standing there out of breath I calmly explain to Katie about how I accidentally left the door open when I went outside and if I had been a good boy and closed the door, Bunny could not have gotten in the house with the chipmunk. She bought it hook, line and sinker, as if it really were accidental. OK, maybe this one was not a totally planned lesson, but we can still use it. Lesson #1 - Never leave the door open when you go outside! You see, this is how children really learn, this little lesson will stick in her mind a whole lot longer than just telling her to close the door, right!
Naturally Katie saw and heard us come running into the house as I yelled at the top of my lungs, so after giving her the impromptu lesson, I excitedly asked her to find her bug box, which she did. Firmly holding the chipmunk I asked if she wanted to see it up close and personal. Her reply was an emphatic, "No", she was a tad bit frightful of all the noise and commotion. I do tend to stir things up a smidgen when I'm excited about something or other. But after to few seconds she came running over with a wide smile on her face and the bug box in her hand. I needed to see if Bunny had done any major damage to the chipmunk so I made a small crack between my fingers and out jumped Alvin about two feet up into the air. By the sheer grace of God I was able to catch him before he landed...I proudly grinned at Katie, her eyes were as big as saucers, neither of us believing my deftness and agility, that's when he bit the living tar out of my finger with those needle-sharp teeth, drawing blood I might add. So I instinctively loosened my grip a bit and out he jumped again, this time onto the couch. I have no idea how I did it, but I was able to summon the courage to grab him once again, this time I cautiously finagled him into the bug box without further injury. Katie saw the real blood trickling from my finger and I truly doubt that she will ever pick up a chipmunk with her bare hands! Lesson #2 - Never handle wild animals without protective gear and clothing, they may bite or scratch you, and they may have diseases. I am painfully aware that this lesson was an offspring of Lesson #1 so I take credit for neither...but I will still use them to instruct my child!
We just sat there looking at Alvin through the screened sides of the bug box as he frantically ran around trying to find a place to hide. His heart had to be pumping four or five times faster than the normal chipmunk heart, with all that he had just been through. I'm guessing that little Alvin had probably narrowly escaped those kitty jaws on a few other occasions...but his luck had run out today. Can you imagine being carried away in the mouth of your mortal enemy and knowing that you will soon be eaten alive as lunch bunch? Bunny just licked her lips as Katie tried to comfort Alvin. She really wanted to keep that chipmunk but I convinced her that we needed to release him back into the wild where he belongs...which we did. Wow, was that exciting or what? Lesson #3 - Wild animals should remain in the wild. Some lessons are just as hard to teach and as they are to learn...I really wanted a pet chipmunk too, but this wasn't about me, it was about teaching Katie some real life lessons. Although I've still not gotten to anything on the lesson plan, I'm on a roll just the same!
We made sure Bunny was locked inside the house when we released Alvin. We sat the bug box on the porch and opened the door to watch him dart out...but he didn't! We gave him verbal commands in chipmunk-eze, we tapped on the screen, we did everything to let him know that he was free and we were not gonna devour him, but he wouldn't take the hint. I tentatively put my hand in the box, not the one he bit earlier, and prodded to try and get him to turn around and see his freedom but even that didn't work, he seemed to want to stay in the bug box. Then, because I have the IQ of a four year old, I decided to hold the cage up to head level with my face right in front of the door and talk him out, like I’m some sort of hostage negotiator or something, I still can't believe I did that! Of course a face like mine is all it takes to scare any living thing back to reality. He jumped squarely on my face, we stared in each other’s eyes for a tiny fraction of a second, I knew he wouldn’t be taken alive again, and then he ran over my bald head to his freedom, I've got the claw prints to prove it. Granted, that wasn't as scary as being carried away in the mouth of your mortal enemy, but my heart was pounding none the less! Lesson #4 - Never handle wild animals without protective gear and clothing, they may bite or scratch you, and they may have diseases. Yes, some lessons are worth repeating!
I decide to use this opportunity to teach Katie a small lesson about separation, Lesson #5. We talked about how Alvin's family reacted to him, and he to them, when they reunited, and how important it is to let those you love know how you feel about them often. That's so important, especially in the event that they don't return, like what almost happened to Alvin. I purposely left out the part about how they smelled the predator on him and ostracized him from the chipmunk borough for all eternity. He’s probably sleeping in some abandoned rat hole as I type.
Oh well, on to the more mundane tasks of life. I guess I was getting hungry, because seeing Bunny lick her chops made me feel like grilling some meat, so Katie and I decided to go to the grocery store to pick up a couple of roasters...may as well cook two birds at once and freeze some for later. When we walked past the balloons and cards at the Fresh Market, Katie said, "You need to get mommy a balloon for her marriage anniversary." I just looked at her in amazement and thanked God for her, because I had completed forgotten that today was our fourteenth (or was it fifteenth) wedding anniversary. As I began to read the cards to pick out 'the perfect cardâ€
