I'm Not Getting Presents Anymore

Last week There was a day that Stephen had to work really late, so the kids and I hung out at home.  We were downstairs playing and watching movies. I let the boys play a video game while Hannah and I were watching a show on the other tv because she was running a high fever. Before I knew it the boys were fighting and yelling at each other per usual so I tried to ignore it and let them figure it out, then it got quiet. Then I heard a soft, timid "Mommy?" coming from behind me. Zander was walking up behind me intentionally so I wouldn't see him as he tried to talk to me, so I asked him what was going on. He said, "You're going to be really mad at me and Dad is going to be super mad at me." I asked again what happened and told him to come stand where I could I see him. He slowly and reluctantly stepped forward and with tears in his eyes just started blurting out what had happened so fast that I couldn't comprehend everything he was saying.

With hot tears running down his face and fear in his voice he told me that he and Lucas were playing with Dad's expensive gaming headset even though they knew not to play with it. They were trying to take turns and Lucas got mad and hit them out of Zander's hands as he was trying to take them off his head and ended up breaking the headset in half. Then Zander kept telling me how angry Dad and I were at him, and it was all his fault because Dad told him not to show Lucas how to turn them on because he didn't want him using them, but Zander decided to show him anyway and then Lucas slapped them out of his hands breaking them. If he hadn't gotten them out to show Lucas then they never would've gotten broken. Zander was just beside himself and scared of what was going to happen to him especially after Dad got home to find his headset broken.

I have to admit I was not happy because they were expensive. It's not an item we can just buy a new pair of, so I was upset, but I didn't get after Zander or Lucas. I did give them both a stern talking to and a hug afterward with reassurance that everything would be ok.

We went upstairs to eat dinner and Zander walked up the stairs with his head hanging low and sat on the couch. He said he just couldn't stop thinking about the headset. As he sat at the table he told me that Santa wouldn't be bringing him any presents anymore because of what he did. So I suggested that he write a letter to Santa explaining what happened and see what he'd say. That's exactly what Zander did after he finished eating. He didn't know what to say so he drew a picture of what happened. Zander even said sorry in his prayer for dinner.

It was so humbling to see this barely six year old start grasping the meaning of repentance and the consequences of disobeying. It was hard to be upset with him. Stephen didn't get home until 11:00 that night, so the next morning when the boys woke up they asked me what to do. I told them they both needed to go together and show Dad his headset and explain what happened. They were really scared, but did what they were told. Dad was pretty upset, but didn't yell or get mad at them. He thanked them for telling the truth, and tried to fix them and put them back together again.

Zander went to check the Santa mailbox to see if Santa got his note. He found a note with a little candy cane attached to it just for him and asked me to read it to him. The note said that Zander did the right thing by telling his parents right away what happened and apologizing for what he did even though it wasn't easy. And because of that he would not be put on the naughty list. Zander's eyes got big and wide and a bright smile spread across his face to match. He was so excited that we was not on the naughty list! Even though an expensive item was broken a big lesson was learned that night, and Zander has been trying to be better at being more careful with things and listening to his dad.