Out of the Mouth of Babes

Last night at the dinner table when I reminded my (just turned) 3 year old grandson that he could get down and play “after” he finished his dinner he had some words for me. Without hesitation he rattled off, “First you do what you don’t want to do then you get to do what you want to do.”

To that I smiled with glee. If only every child was being taught this kind of character. If only every adult was willing to even somewhat implement this philosophy in life.

I had all but forgotten about it until this morning after he asked for another puzzle. My reply was something in the order of as soon as you pick up the one you just finished. That’s when he quoted his “first” and “then” statement back to me. It's a tongue twister but he gets it right everytime.

It brings to mind the economic crisis Americans are now having to fund for all the folks who didn’t know this. What if all the irresponsible adults that wanted more house than they could afford actually worked long enough and saved enough money "first" and "then" purchased the home they could responsibly pay for!

OR what if the government “first” remembered that it is set up to SERVE the people not to RULE the people, “then” all the citizens could live FREE with the right to PURSUE happiness.

Oh the list goes on and on… do you have any you can think of?

I want to say a great big thank you to my little fellow’s smart mom and dad for taking the time and energy required to instill valuable principles into his heart and mind at an early age. It’s never too early to train up a child in the way he should go.