Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Moral of the Story

I teach the Sunbeams at church. Not Buddy's class because he's too hard to handle and since I'm his mom, it's socially acceptable for me to decline teaching him. I feel bad for his teacher. There are 12 kids going on age four in our ward, so they've put six kids in each class. Lucky me, I've got the much easier class.

This is my favorite calling. I've done it once before and I got released far too quickly, so I've been campaigning to do it again ever since. I especially love it because I'm teaching Buddy's friends and I just adore them. I could tell stories for hours about the hilarious things they say. Like this Sunday when we were talking about being thankful for our families. We went around the room and they got to tell everyone their mommy's and daddy's first names. One little boy said his mom is Celini and his dad is Babe. I about died laughing. His parents are good friends of mine and for the record, his dad's name is actually Tony.

Anyway, last week we were thankful for our bodies, so the lesson said to tell the kids the story of David and Goliath. I was nervous to tell them that story, especially since David KILLS someone, but I've always found that if I stick to the lesson, good things happen. Plus I loved that story when I was a kid. Like I had hoped, the kids enjoyed the story and we got into a great discussion about courage.

We do Family Home Evening on Monday nights, which is a highlight of the week for Buddy. He really likes the two-on-one learning time, and he loves to practice the songs he's learning at church. Another reason I love teaching the Sunbeams is I know exactly what Buddy is learning there, so we usually reinforce at least one principle at home during FHE. I got the impression his teacher didn't go over the David and Goliath story (probably for good reason,) so in a lapse in judgement, I decided we should tell him that story during FHE.

We showed him the picture, told him the story, breezed past the throwing rocks and killing Goliath parts, and focused on how David prayed to be brave and to know how to help his friends. We asked a few questions to make sure Buddy was understanding, then I asked, "So if you are scared and want to be brave, what can you do?"

"I can throw rocks at somebody," he said. Of course he said that. This is Buddy we're talking about.

I said, "No. You don't ever throw rocks. You can pray to be brave. If you're ever scared, you can always pray."

Then a big Buddy argument ensued where he insisted that yes, he should throw rocks like David.

Dang this idea of teaching from the scriptures. Thankfully, that was a few days ago and he hasn't brought it up again. Or thrown any rocks.

2 comments:

Emma said...

Sunbeams are lots of fun! Thanks goodness Buddy hasn't thrown any rocks to feel brave!

Emily said...

That is too cute. It's funny sometimes what they pick up on. I have especially fond memories of the funny things that happen and are said during primary. Like one time, this little sunbeam was in charge of saying the prayer and he prayed that he could have help with his potty training. So cute, I could have just died. But most recently one very lovely member of my class was reciting article of faith #8 and his annunciation was a little unclear and it really sounded like, as fart is translated correctly instead of as far as it is translated correctly. Every adult in the primary room was practically rolling on the floor. I adore primary.