Lesson #11: Forgiveness

I wrote (co-wrote) the curriculum for the kids at our MOPS (Mother’s of PreSchoolers) meetings. It is based on the VeggieTales movies and the lesson this week was from Larry Boy and The Angry Eyebrows. In the movie Larry Boy learns to let go of his anger and forgive Awful Alvin for sticking a popsicle down his spandex suit and pouring hot fudge into the Larry Mobile, thus removing the vicious Angry Eyebrows that will hold on to him as long as he holds on to the anger. So the craft that I made up for the kids was a forgiveness pouch. They laced up a little construction paper pouch and filled it with cards that say “I Forgive You”. They wear it around their necks and every time that they need to forgive someone they can take out a card and hand it to the other person.

Great. So after MOPS I lug both kids to the chiropractor’s office. Unfortunately I do not have the stroller with me so Kinley is on the loose while I am being “manipulated”, as my doctor so kindly puts it. I let her play with my cell phone to try to entertain her while I was busy, but Cainan decided it would be fun to pretend to take the cell phone away from her to make her scream. He loves to do this. He thinks it is hilarious to hear her yell, “Moe” (NO!) or “Ine” (MINE!), in her shrill little whiny voice. It is ear-piercing when he gets her started like that. So I’m trying to threaten him non-verbally while the doctor twists my neck to and fro. Of course Cainan pretends to ignore me and keeps egging her on. Finally the doctor calls in the nurse to take care of Kinley. How embarrassing!!!

So once we get in the car the lecture begins. I get in to not annoying your sister, not making people mad on purpose, doctor’s office etiquette, the whole works. And then not two minutes later while still in the car he starts messing with her and she starts the half whiny/half screaming thing again. I stayed very calm and just said, “Cainan, I’m going to have to start whipping you when you are bothering Kinley like that and making her yell.” To which he of course replies, “Why?” I answer, “Because you are disobeying.” About that time we pull up to the drive-thru at McDonald’s (I would have aborted the whole fast food mission but we were delivering it to someone else) and I get busy ordering, paying etc. When we are waiting at the 3rd window for our food Cainan says, “Hey about whipping me?” “Yes”, I say. “Don’t forget about this”, he says as he holds up one of the “I Forgive You” cards from his pouch.

Of course he would listen to lesson #11. What was he doing during lesson #4: Love One Another?