Sunday mornings at church continue to be the 3 hardest hours of my week. Haley does not like anything about worship, except the apple she snacks on for the first 30 minutes. There is no baby nursery, nor is there a good place we can take her when she is not behaving. We live in a country where it is highly illegal to give spankings, so while we still ocassionally spank her in the privacy of our own home, we do not feel comfortable spaking her even in the bathroom of church. Every Sunday we go through the "Haley Don'ts"
- Haley don't run to the front
- Haley don't stand on the pew
- Haley don't slap
- Haley don't spit on the floor
- Haley don't pull hair
- Haley don't scream
Today, Haley realized that the bubbles were still in her stroller from the other day at the park. She wanted to play with them, and I said no. She proceeded to throw a whopper of a fit. Just as I was going to take her out of the auditorium to settle down, a lady in the pew next to us pulls a sucker out of her purse and insists that we give it to Haley. This is where the biggest part of the dillema came in: 1) We could refuse it, coming across as rude and as parents who can't control their kids or 2) Humbly taking the sucker, and in a way rewarding Haley for her bad behavior.
I did not want her to have that sucker. Her behavior this morning did not merrit a treat. However, I also did not want to hurt the lady's feelings or be seen as rude. Here people will do whatever they can to make sure that a child does not cry, even if it means bribing them. This was a small frustration, and not the end of the world, but I really do wish people would let me parent and not get Haley to be quiet by giving her suckers. Oh well.
1 comment:
Hang in there. Those small frustrations never seem to stop, but somehow God is working WITH you to raise up a godly woman. Your faithful efforts will be reward (maybe not this afternoon, but soon enough :)
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