Learning from TV

Today while I watched TV with my kids, I learned a lot. I learned that Abby wants to go to the Cayman Islands this summer. After all, she "told me that!" ...I must have forgotten. I learned that all kids are super special. I also learned that if a kid wants to be a donkey, then you're a jerk if you don't let him.

Apparently Kai-Lan's friends are all super special, and one of them is only super special if he's dressed as a donkey. His horrible friends were playing safari, and let some other kid play the donkey. It turns out that every single kid in the world is special somehow - some can jump super high, some can run super fast, some are super smart. So anyway, this kid wants to be the donkey and he wasn't, so what did he do? Of course, he got the heck outta there. Why even hang around your friends if they won't give you exactly what you want, anytime you want it?? The kids were concerned, so they went after him and figured out the problem. They decided to take turns being the donkey and everyone was happy.

What else did I learn from that? The same thing my kids probably learned - if you don't get what you want, throw a fit or sulk until you do. It works, just ask Kai-Lan and her friend. These are just awesome skills to teach our kids. It goes right along with the "nobody loses" idea that is permeating schools and soccer fields everywhere. Our kids are so super special, they deserve to never lose and never be without what they desire.

Umm... Didn't the Bible say to "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves," (Phil. 2:3)? It sounds to me like Kai Lan missed the boat on this one. Personally, I would rather teach my kids what God thinks than what some cartoon Japanese girl thinks.

Although I do think my kids are pretty special - maybe even super special. But that's for my mind to think - I don't expect everyone else in the world to agree or recognize this specialness every second of the day. If my kids want to be a donkey, but someone else is already a donkey, then I would say, "too bad - guess you're the giraffe instead." After all, are there even donkeys in the Savannah at all?

My kids are special to me, but they don't need special treatment from teachers and other kids and other adults because of it. Instead, I aspire to make my kids normal. That's right - just like kids are supposed to be, and have been for centuries. Even Jesus was a normal kid at some point. Why can't we just celebrate the kid in our kids, instead of always looking for something that makes them better than other kids? I've talked about this before, on a mommy level. Read this to see what I have to say on the matter. Because I'm so darn super special myself.

Now if I could just learn why all of Kai Lan's animal friends have only one tooth, but her human friends have no teeth...