I always thought I'd be the mom who jumped in with the kids and played with the best of 'em, but I've had to face the fact that it is just not my thing. I wish it were, but it's not. I try to fake it though. It's not their fault their mama is a dud. I'd hate for them to have to suffer for it. So every now and then I give in.
This evening, my almost-seven year old wanted to play knights. He wanted me to play with him. I choked back my sigh and volunteered to play the grumpy dragon (stretch? maybe, maybe not.) So his 3-year old sister played the role of the queen and sent him to find "the necklace." His brother joined the game and they both went on a mission to take the necklace the dragon was wearing.
I declared the kitchen to be my lair (it needed cleaned) and made up the rule that if I was able to blow on them, they had to go back to the bedroom and start over again. This kept them busy for an hour. It was great. I "let it slip" that the dragon's biggest weakness was her tendency to be easily distracted. They played my favorite songs, they showed off lego creations, they tried giving neckrubs (haha - right next to the necklace clasp.) Then, that amazing almost-seven year old did the coolest thing. He tried to convert me to Christianity! lol!
He offered to help me clean the kitchen. Playing the gruff dragon, I asked suspiciously what he was up to. He said he just wanted to be my friend. I asked why he'd want to be friends with a mean ol' dragon. He told me that he was a knight and had sworn an oath of chivalry which required him to treat everyone with love and kindness. We talked and talked for nearly an hour. He followed the code because he was a Christian knight and he was loyal to his king. He told me that some nights can pretend to be Christians on the outside, but that doesn't mean they are Christians in their hearts.
I asked him what he'd do if his king announced everyone should serve a different god ("cuz I've heard the other dragons talking about there being all sorts of gods out there".) He told me he couldn't do that. "Well, why not? If people can pretend to be a Christian, but be something different on the inside....can't you pretend to serve a different god, and be a Christian on the inside?" He looked truly flabbergasted. "Nnnno! That would be lying! I have to be honest about what's in my heart! That would be a sin!" I asked him what sin was and he told me that burning and eating humans counted. I asked how you could know if you were sinning - can't you sin and not know it? He told me that the Holy Spirit would give me a feeling in my gut and that I should really listen to it. I pretended to start eating his older brother (who was sneaking up behind me, still trying to get the necklace,) but I paused and looked as uncomfortable as possible. I asked him if I was feeling that conscience thing. He asked me what I felt and I said "It feels like I've eaten too many greasy humans." "That's IT!" he shouted cheerfully. "That's the feeling!"
I told him that I really wanted to eat that human and I was going to go ahead and ignore the voice in my gut. He looked very concerned about this and told me that I shouldn't ignore it because it would get harder and harder to hear every time I ignored it and I really needed to be able to hear that voice. I finally gave up on eating his brother and pretended to be depressed over all the humans I had eaten. I asked him how to get rid of that feeling in my gut. He told me I need to be saved. I asked how to do that. At first, he told me that I needed to stop eating Christians and be good. But I told him that I knew some really good dragons who followed all the ten commandments and were even rumored to be (whispered) vegetarians....but they didn't believe in God at all....were they Christians? He corrected himself and said that I needed to ask Jesus into my heart and that sweet, funny little boy led me (the gruff ol' dragon) through the sinner's prayer.
And to think, I might have missed that moment if I had told him "not now, mama has to clean the kitchen." My kitchen got cleaned and my heart got blessed.
Lend an ear (eye) to an '80's classic.
8 comments:
Oh wow, you need to submit that sweet story to a future "Chicken Soup for the Christian soul" book or something.
What a sweet, sweet boy and what a good mama you must be. God has definately blessed you.
That's so sweet. And you know you're on the right track, at least!
What a great story, and what a sweet little boy!
Okay, I checked out the link to The Last Dragon and had to come back to comment on that. What an, um, interesting, uh, cultural mix. I don't remember ever hearing about this movie, but I think now I'll have to look for it. It looks so absolutely cheesy that I'm sure we'll laugh all the way through it.
You might not want to watch it! It's been years since I've seen it, and though I remember loving it as a kid, I'm pretty sure it was full of language and sexual innuendo. Definitely an after-the-kids-go-to-bed movie. It may be great, but I just don't remember and I prefer to keep it idealized in my memory - lol.
What a super time you had with your children! Some parents get how much children learn through play and some see play as nonsense actions. You and the kingdom learned a valuable lesson and all were blessed. Congratulations to Jenn the great mama, love you.
Oh Jenn,
I'm the same way about not wanting to "play". But I do know how lovely moments like you had with your son are and I wonder why I don't have them more! Great story! You must be proud of him!
First, I love your blog. I have been reading it for awhile now because you remind me of myself LOL.
Second, you have the sweetest little boy. Thank you for sharing, it motivated me to also spend a little time with my children last night instead of cleaning the kitchen!
Christy
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