The symptoms seemed to escalate after a minor punishment for arguing with his sister. Being of the character-building sort, I followed the little old man to his room for a heart to heart. What a great opportunity to teach and discuss the vices of anger and holding a grudge! I chatted. I talked about what makes me feel that way. I asked him questions. I saw no change. Hmmm...
He was perfectly polite, but unchanged. Still unsmiling, squinty-eyed and almost growling. Since there was no overtly rude or wrong behavior, I decided in my motherly wisdom to let him stay in his room and think about our in-depth conversation.
Not long thereafter, I saw an amazing transformation. He was smiling, giggling and making super funny jokes. Had my heart to heart changed his demeanor? Did our loving prayer time make the difference?
No. Actually what did the trick was the three bowls of heaping taco salad that he manfully snarfed down. Once the calories hit his bloodstream, he perked up in no time and was completely back to normal...running and playing cars with furious energy.
I had forgotten a fundamental consideration of raising a boy.
Sometimes there are no emotions attached to his behavior...he's probably just hungry again. Most problems with him are just that simple...feed the kid, put the kid to bed, see the kid get happy again. Poor little guy. Maybe the character lecture will prevent problems some other time when it actually applies!
Amen and Amen. Not to sound sacreligious, but you hit the nail on the head. I'm sure that the prayer and talking time was also still important and beneficial, because we are all responsible for our actions, even when we're hungry (not that I'D ever be grumpy when hungry . . . . . NOT), but sometimes, a boy just needs to EAT!!!
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