Eavesdropping....

This morning I had the treat of eavesdropping on the beans playing together and overheard the following conversation:

String Bean: "But MOM! We must save our brother!"
Jumping Bean: "Why is that, Daughter?" 
SB: "Because, Jesus wants us to love other people - and loving our brother would be saving him from the alligators!!"
JB: "Hmmmm.....that makes sense."

At this point I thought to myself - I am an AWESOME MOM. I mean, I totally have this thing DOWN. They've got it!

And then I kept listening.....and snuck down the hall so I could watch the interaction....

Jumping Bean: (With hands on hips and head cocked to the side) "But I don't care! I told you NOT to go near the alligators....and that is the end."
String Bean: "But, but, we HAVE to SAVE our BROTHER!!!" (On the edge of hysterics)
JB: "NO MA'AM. I said DON'T go near those Alligators young lady. Are you honoring your mother? (For emphasis a finger wag started to be be used) You don't go near those alligators....BECAUSE I SAID SO."
SB: "Yes, Ma'am." (With head hung down and furtive glances at whatever stuffed animal represented her now-dying brother.)

I gave away my covert location because I was giggling so hard.

There you have it folks. Apparently, I come down like the hammer. Even the Love of Jesus compelling us to do right cannot trump the "because I said so!"

And I learned a couple things about myself:

1. If I say it, that is the end.
2. I remind them their JOB is to honor their father and mother.....and obey their parents....A LOT.
3. I call them "young lady"....and didn't even realize it!
4. I've become an "I said so" mom.

Now, none of those things really bothered me....except for number four! I had this (what I know now is) ridiculous dream of ALWAYS explaining everything to my children and not having to use that awful phrase. But you know what? It is a good phrase. There are times they DON'T need to know the who, what, why, when, where, and how. Sometimes they just have to do it because they do. Period. And I will probably end up using that phrase for a long, long time.

But I really think I would have at least tried to save the brother from the alligators! I mean, c'mon! I'm not totally heartless!

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