little boxes

Those who know me know that I like boxes. I love to fit things into boxes and label them. I remember one day when I was younger my girl friend had a pair of shoes laying on the floor. There was also a box on the floor. I was going to fit those shoes into that box. I just knew they would fit. I tried hard, then my friend gave me a odd look of crazy so I stopped. Now, I not only like tangible boxes but also like them in a figurative way. Right now my four year old is in that frame of mind. He is always trying to figure out which box, folder or category that his new found information fits into. Asking question after question to figure out, "How does this fit?" The past few weeks he has been frustrated about a "pair of shoes" that just doesn't fit.

He was invited to a friend's birthday party on Sunday. Our family has made the choice that Sundays are family and church days and not friend's birthday party days. He knows that but it was his best friend. What was he going to do? He decided he was going to think about it. The next day his conclusion was to call the friend's mother and tell them to just change the party. His friend's mom was just confused he must tell her that Sundays are not birthday party days! I informed my four year old that his friend's family has not made that choice. Then my son got what my sister and brother call a "brain overload." He just freezes, makes a weird face and tries to process.

So, how do we teach our kids that their values and the way they live their lives does not have to be the same as everyone else? How do we teach our kids that, no matter what, we still stick to our values? Sometimes the labels on our boxes should change and sometimes they just should not. It's okay that we are not all the same.