Who’s moody???

For the past 4 or 5 days I have been super moody and snappy with everyone in my family. I have noticed that it really has effected the mood in our home. How can the Spirit dwell here when there is so much contention? Last night I was pretty bad and had just about had it with my 6 year old “M”. She seems to be at a challenging age and is JUST like me. I finally got them to settle down in their beds and after about an hour I just felt really guilty. I decided to go in the girl’s room and just snuggle with both of them, even if they were asleep. Well, I went in there and “M” was wide awake sitting up in bed. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she was just thinking about how she never wanted to go to the ocean again. I asked her why and she said because of sharks. For some reason she was having scary thoughts and couldn’t get to sleep. I layed down beside her and told her this story that I just made up from the top of my head. Here is how it went……..

Once upon a time there was a sweet little girl who had a mom who would give her anything that she wanted except one thing…… CHOCOLATE. The little girl came up to her mom one day and said “Mom, can I have a chocolate chip cookie?” The mom answered “I’m sorry honey but I don’t want to give you chocolate but I will take you to Target in the morning and you can get that $250 horse that you want that you can sit on and it looks like it is real.” The little girl said, “Okay, I guess that sounds fine.” So the next day she got her pony and was sitting in her room playing with it but something was missing. So she went up to her mom and said “Thanks so much for my new pony but I would really like a chocolate chip cookie”. The mom just looked at her and said “How about if we go to the store and get you a Barbie Playhouse that you can really play inside of with a matching bed and a pink lamp?” The little girl said “that sounds nice”. So that night she sat in her new playhouse but was still not as happy as she could be. The next morning she went up to her mom and said, “Mom, thanks so much for my new Barbie Playhouse, it’s really nice but I really, really want a chocolate chip cookie.” Her mom said “Here is $50, let’s go get you some new Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shops”. The little girl took the money and said “Okay”. Later that night she sat in her playhouse playing with all her new toys and she thought that something was missing. She went up to her mom and said “Mom, can I just have a chocolate chip cookie??” The mom answered, “Well, if you are willing to take back all the toys that we bought to the store I guess I can make you a batch of cookies & milk, while we sit and snuggle and talk on the couch.” The little girl thought for a second and said “Yes, that is what I want”. So they took back all those great toys that cost sooooo much money and they sat on the couch snuggling and eating chocolate chip cookies. The little girl looked up at her mom and said “I guess money could buy us anything in the world but that could never replace what a chocolate cookie & time with you give me…………… LOVE”.

My daughter LOVED that story and I had to repeat it tonight to my 8 year old, who said she would have rather have kept all the toys instead of the cookie. I was promted to tell that story to her and I realized why later. Our life gets so wrapped up in the material things of the world that it seems like it would be easier just to buy our children’s happiness when all they really want is our love and attention. I guess it was a guilt-promoted story. “M” just really needs more hugs than anything else. It melts away her anger and sassiness.