An Eye for an Eye!

Max spent quite awhile this morning working on a tough puzzle and was pretty proud that he did it all by himself.

A few minutes later, before Daddy even got to see it, Sammy came by and messed it all up. Max was upset and I dragged Sammy into time-out. (Kicking and screaming, of course.)

While he was gone, I sat Max down and decided this was a prime teaching opportunity.

"Max, do you know what Jesus would do if someone slapped him? He'd turn his cheek and let that person slap the other side! It's called 'turning the other cheek'!"

Blank stare.

"Okay Max...give my cheek a little slap. Not hard, just a little one." (He looks baffled and slaps his own cheek.)

"No, slap MY cheek."

He pauses and then very tentatively slaps my cheek.

"See, if you did that to me, and I were Jesus, I'd let you slap the other side too!"

More blank staring.

This isn't going well. I'm quickly losing confidence in my example, the Bible, and my general comprehension of Judeo-Christian ethics.

"Alright Max, the point is, if someone does something you don't like, you don't get mad! You forgive them!" (But I'm not about to tell him to just let the person smack him again.)

Look of complete bewilderment.

I'm gonna let this one go. Time to deal with Sammy. Exit stage left.

"Sammy! You need to go upstairs and say 'sorry' to Max! You messed up his puzzle and that made him very sad! Go say 'sorry', okay?"

Sam leaves the room and goes upstairs. A second later he's crying loudly and stomping back down the stairs.

"What happened Sammy?"

"Max FWAPPED me!!!"





I quit.