When my sons were little, I liked to play all sorts of games with them. One of them was just a whim, something that came out of nowhere.
I'd pretend that I was someone else -- a sad sack of a character that I named "DumDum." I know -- it's not very nice. But I never meant anything mean by it, honestly. And I am sure that they never took it that way either.
The DumDum character would usually ask them if he should do his ABCs. They'd always say that they wanted to hear him. So I'd sing the familiar ABC song and purposefully leave out one letter along the way.
The thing is -- and this is the saddest part -- the kids kind of related to DumDum. I could tell because they didn't laugh at all. He almost seemed to become real for them. And when "DumDum" would finish the ABCs song leaving out the letter, he'd ask them in an innocent voice, "How was that? Did I do good?" I wondered how they would respond. Would they correct him not that correcting him would necessarily be bad? They'd always tell DumDum that he did a good job, every single time. Like they didn't want to hurt his feelings. On most occasions when I'd be playing DumDum it got so real for me that I'd get tears in my eyes. Just call it a moment but these are times I will never forget.
Even back then I imagine that I wanted my sons to have gentle souls, accepting hearts, especially for those who struggle. And I think that they do.
The other day I heard a story about a sweet little girl who goes to school in this area. She said she'd practiced and practiced her spelling words but still couldn't get a good grade. This darling little thing has been struggling for a long time because of a problem that occurred at birth. So say a prayer for her, okay. She is trying so hard and I don't want her to give up!!!
If everything always came easy to us, we would never know what it is to struggle. We would tend to lose humility and empathy for others who struggle.
I once heard a definition of humility. It's not that you don't think you have talents and abilities, because obviously everyone does. But it is that you NEVER forget that they were given to you by God. That tends to take the bragging out of the equation, doesn't it? We should always give the honor and glory to God.
Note -- on the last blog about Kidron, Ohio, one of our loyal readers reminded me to tell all of you that there is a wonderful thrift store in Kidron called MCC. She said it is a wonderful place and so clean!! So try that one too when you take your drive.
And one final story for your enjoyment (I hope). My granddaughter, Ella, loves routine. Lately, we've started a new one. She likes to eat oatmeal for breakfast, so I get out the large container with the flexible plastic lid. Immediately, Ella starts watching me because she knows what's going to come next. I pull up just a edge of the lid and make the oatmeal box talk. "Good morning, Ella," it says. And Ella just smiles up a storm and answers, "Hi oatmeal." Today we had to open up a new one and she thought that was delightful. If you have the wonderful opportunity of being around little kids, just recharge the little kid in you and let it go. You can't really go wrong. They are so willing to play along with the game.
Some of us were talking at my step-son's birthday on Sunday. I was telling the story of how one year at Christmas my sister handed out little scraps of paper that had numbers written on them. Then she called out, "Number six." Someone said that they had it. Then she handed them a prize. (We give out a lot of little prizes during this part of Christmas.) No one said anything, but we used to play a game to hand out the prizes so there was a good deal more effort involved to winning. Then she called out a second number, and handed out a prize. My niece is sitting there watching all of this happen and then she says, "THAT'S the game?" Oh, my gosh. We all just burst into laughter. I couldn't tell you what the prizes were, but I remember that little episode perfectly!! Make some new memories today.
See you tomorrow then.
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