Two girls were fighting at my house tonight. At issue: What are the rules pertaining to the usage of library books that are checked out on someone else's card?
Yes. This is a BIG QUESTION around here.
Needless to say, one girl was busy reading a book she had not checked out. The other girl desperately NEEDED to read THAT book that she HAD checked out, that her sister was currently reading.
A fight ensued.
(Setting aside the fact that the kid doing the reading was thereby setting aside a page turner of literary value in favor of something Amelia Bedeliesque and way below her level.)
Neither kid wanted to give in.
The one insisted that it was her book since she checked it out. The other insisted it was her book because she started reading it first.
Glowers. Frowns. Grimaces. ANGRY EYEBROWS!
And I'm tired. It's been like this all week long. Today in particular, I've been extra grumpy from not having an afternoon snack, and so have the kids. Glowers. Frowns. Grimaces. ANGRY (neatly plucked!) EYEBROWS.
Grace. It can only be the Holy Spirit, because it was too good for me to come up with on my own, but out of my mouth flowed this font of wisdom:
"Which one of you is going to start doing unto the other as you would have her do unto you?"
Shy grins replace the angry glowers. The look of conviction, although I could see on their faces that neither really truly wanted to be the one to give in, although just catching a glimpse of the vision of what was possible according to "Kingdom Values" instantly changed their countenances.
We talked through what doing unto the other would look like for each of them, and they quickly came to an amicable solution without me having to impose a motherly fiat.
Now, why don't I think of stuff like that more often?
Yes. This is a BIG QUESTION around here.
Needless to say, one girl was busy reading a book she had not checked out. The other girl desperately NEEDED to read THAT book that she HAD checked out, that her sister was currently reading.
A fight ensued.
(Setting aside the fact that the kid doing the reading was thereby setting aside a page turner of literary value in favor of something Amelia Bedeliesque and way below her level.)
Neither kid wanted to give in.
The one insisted that it was her book since she checked it out. The other insisted it was her book because she started reading it first.
Glowers. Frowns. Grimaces. ANGRY EYEBROWS!
And I'm tired. It's been like this all week long. Today in particular, I've been extra grumpy from not having an afternoon snack, and so have the kids. Glowers. Frowns. Grimaces. ANGRY (neatly plucked!) EYEBROWS.
Grace. It can only be the Holy Spirit, because it was too good for me to come up with on my own, but out of my mouth flowed this font of wisdom:
"Which one of you is going to start doing unto the other as you would have her do unto you?"
Shy grins replace the angry glowers. The look of conviction, although I could see on their faces that neither really truly wanted to be the one to give in, although just catching a glimpse of the vision of what was possible according to "Kingdom Values" instantly changed their countenances.
We talked through what doing unto the other would look like for each of them, and they quickly came to an amicable solution without me having to impose a motherly fiat.
Now, why don't I think of stuff like that more often?
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:) Jasmine