Making Things Right

Yesterday when we arrived home from the toy store, Niko excitedly pulled a small toy vehicle that we had not purchased out of his pocket.  His glee very quickly turned to shame and sadness as he read the shock on my face.  I explained to him that taking something from a store is stealing and is wrong.  And he got it immediately.  He felt so crushed and guilty that he ran straight to his room and cried under his blanket.  I comforted him and talked about how we could make it right.  He decided we needed to take the vehicle back and apologize to the store clerk.  But he was still so sad he barely ate lunch and just asked to go down for a nap.

This morning I reminded him that we were going to take the vehicle back to the store today and the guilt came flooding back.  He moped all morning until we finally made it there.  Vehicle in hand, he (and his stuffed animal, for courage) walked into the store and up to the counter.  In a small voice, he said "I'm sorry for stealing" and handed the clerk the toy.

He was transformed.  As we left the store, he was smiling and bouncing as he walked.  The immobilizing guilt of earlier had vanished, the slate was completely clean.

It amazed me how intense Niko's feelings were on either side of the experience.  When I explained stealing to him, I was certainly somber, but I didn't feel like I was majorly guilt-tripping him.  And yet he was severely convicted.  And when the item was returned, I didn't need to tell him that everything had been made right.  He was ecstatic because he knew it was right.  The concept of right and wrong, the weight of guilt and forgiveness, and the importance of making things right were written on his heart long before I or anyone else told him about them.

"since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them" - Romans 1: 19
"He has also set eternity in their heart" - Ecclesiastes 3:11

It's very cool that much of parenting is bringing things out in your kids and helping them recognize what is already there, as opposed to filling them with knowledge and lessons.