Over the summer, Mara struggled quite a bit with discipline, particularly whenever we went to the store. She might stand defiantly in the shopping cart seat or, when I was not supposed to be picking her up, she might refuse to hold my hand walking into the store. This behavior is simply unacceptable for several reasons, including her safety. So for several months now, I’ve been giving her the “grocery store lecture” in the parking lot right before we get out of the car. I want to make sure the expectations are clear. It goes something like this:
“Mara, we’re going to the grocery store now. When we get out of the car, you need to obey Mommy. If we’re walking, and I say ‘hold my hand,’ you need to hold my hand! If you’re in the shopping cart, and I say, ‘sit down,’ you need to sit down! You need to obey Mommy. . . ” Up to this point, I’m pretty stern, and you can always see her little wheels turning, processing all this. At the end, I try to reassure her: “I think you will obey, because I think you want to be a good girl!” and I give her a smile and a hug as we get out of the car.
Well, on Thursday afternoon, we pulled into the Shoprite parking lot, and I was sticking something in the diaper bag, when Mara looked at me, questioningly and asked, “Walk? Walk?”
Then with a stern expression and furrowed brow, she said, “Hand! Hand! [that was either me saying ‘hold my hand’ or else Mara assuring me that if I let her “walk,” she would hold my hand].
She continued, “OH-bay! OH-bay!? . . . GOOD girl!!!” Then she gave me a big smile.
Wow, something inside me felt torn between laughing and crying. Laughing, because it was the cutest lecture ever, so perfectly “rehearsed,” but at the same time, I somehow felt like crying, realizing just how much she comprehends and how much she remembers . . . She just gave me the entire grocery store lecture!
It’s humbling, sobering to realize that she remembers so much and notices every little word, every little gesture, and repeats them!
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord. . .”