I'm Just a Fool

I love how kids aren't as tainted by negative word connotations and will just say it like it is. They aren't bound by the rules of political correctness (and neither is the rest of Sierra Leone for that matter). This can cause deep embarrassment of many a parent but today it just made me laugh as Aden and I argued over whether he is smart or not. I, obviously, think he's one bright cookie but he continually insisted otherwise.

I'm getting Aden in the habit of doing some homeschooling since that is how he will be schooled. The "curriculum" we are doing is called Before Five In a Row.  It basically revolves around reading the same book, five days in a row along with doing some enrichment activities each day to enhance and expand upon what we are reading. 

This past week we've been reading Caps for Sale. Spoiler alert: it's about a peddler selling some caps. He decides to take a nap and a bunch of monkeys steal all of his caps. He gets increasingly angrier until he unintentionally finds a solution.

One of the enrichment activities we did for this story was discuss and memorize Proverbs 29:11: A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.  So I explained to Aden what a fool and wise man were and how they were different based on how they responded to conflict (catering to the vocabulary of an almost four-year-old). 

Aden and Mommy practicing our writing :)

Later that day, Aden was getting upset with his brother... Probably because they wanted the same toy as they always do. I brought to his mind the verse from Proverbs. Our conversation proceeded like this:

     Aden: but I'm not smart!

     Mommy: of course you are! Why would you say that? You can already read some words by yourself! You're very smart.

      A: no I'm not! (Said with some attitude) Sometimes I'm mean to my brudder.

     M: and that's why we have this verse, to remind us not to get upset at our brother because a fool gets angry with a his brother over a silly thing like toys. But we want to be like the wise man!

.    A: (exasperated) I'm just a fool!!! Okay???

I don't think any of us would ever be willing to admit how we act the fool. Maybe we don't give full vent to our anger, but we are easily frustrated at our kids or let how we feel in the moment dictate how we speak to our spouse, family members or people in the work place. I know I'm more willing to say "I may not be a wise man, but surely I'm not a fool". My pride of being seen as a fool gets in the way of my calling a spade a spade, especially when referring to myself.

Mostly I wanted to share the funny story of Aden calling himself a fool but here's lesson #136 of me thinking I'm teaching Aden a spiritual truth and he is the one who teaches me!

Playing side by side nicely in Aden's room after I took some toys away