The Gross Factor  

 

To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. ~Josh Billings

I was able to get the opportunity to have dinner with my Mom and Dad and two nephews last night.  I had a blast.  They are these 15 and 16 year old handsome, 6 feet tall guys who amaze me every time I see and spend time with them.  One of them still enjoys messing with me by trying to hide and sneak up on me.  The other just loves to give great big bear hugs.  With him you know when you have been hugged. 

I never had children of my own but I had plenty of child psychology in college so I learned a great deal about children and why they do things.  Have you noticed how teenagers will test you to see how you will react?  Sometimes it is just to see how far they can go but at other times it really is just to see if you will accept them as they are.

Last night one of the boys turned to the other and told him his pizza looked like baby puke.  This is what I call the gross factor.  They want to see what kind of reaction they will get from the adults but have you figured out that this is also a test. This particular pizza was spinach cheese pizza.  I admit I also had a slice of the same pizza on my plate.  The thing is teenagers want to be accepted and many times adults tell them that this is unacceptable behavior instead of really seeing where they are coming from.  After the baby puke comment I reached over to my plate and picked up my baby puke pizza and told them I kinda like baby puke pizza too. 

How many of us have figured out that this is a test for us as adults?  When you sometimes allow yourself to get on their level it builds trust.  With trust comes confidence and with confidence comes communication.  So when it comes time for my nephews to share something really important that is going on in their lives they are not afraid to talk to me about it because I didn’t wig out over baby puke pizza.    

I know when I was a kid I had my gross factor moments because that is what teenagers do.  They try to gross each other out.  Why do we grow up and forget that we were once a child who did things wrong and made our parents want to pull their hair out?  We forget that we were once the child that our children are today. 

Here is my advice for what it is worth.  (FREE).  Children are going to do things that in fact do need discipline.  But choose your discipline wisely, because the last thing you want to do is create distrust in them where they will not come to you with the really important things.  The disciples rebuked Jesus because he got on the children’s level.  God calls us to humble ourselves as children otherwise we will not enter heaven.  That gets my attention.        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be able to relate to children.  They are the most important legacy for any parent.  I pray that I can discern when I need to discipline them and when I just need to get on their level to see the child I used to be. I pray that you will make me humble as a little child so that I can enter Your kingdom.      

Scripture:  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4