teaching teaches me

Fall 2009 (early November?)

Braxton brings home papers from his Sunbeam class. We usually use them to talk over dinner on Sunday. I remember one week they had a lesson about honesty. He had plenty of talks before and after about making the right choice. The easiest for Braxton to recognize as dishonesty is stealing. I think that's pretty normal for little kids. They get that it isn't right to take something that isn't theirs. So the honesty lesson kept coming up when we were at stores and doing other errands. I decided to use the conversation that was happening and turn it into a real teaching moment. I was the one who had something to learn.

We were driving to Walmart Neighborhood Market to fill our fridge. I like to go there because I can ad match. We had to pass Frys on the way though. I saw and pointed out a few carts pushed on a canal bank away from the store. One of them was Braxton's favorite, the cart with what looks like a Little Tikes car on the front. My favorite too. Shopping is much easier when he's strapped in and "driving" around. We decided to put off shopping a little longer to park our truck and walk out to gather these carts for Frys.

He has always wanted me to read all the signs we see. The carts have directions and rules on them that have been part of every shopping trip. One sign on the cart talks about stealing the carts. Braxton has been very concerned when he'd see random carts in random places. We don't know what happened that people took these carts. I imagine they have no transportation and have to get several weeks of food home with a few kids tagging along. I am sure there are all different reasons. Braxton being a little guy only sees black and white, right and wrong. To him they are stolen.

He was ready to go round up carts but got a little thirsty on our walk. I stopped into Taco Bell to just get him a water cup and get going. In the short time we were doing this, a man found and was pushing these stray carts back. They really weren't all that close to the store but he had them back in the parking lot. We ended up walking back towards the store and when we were close enough we told the man we saw the good he was doing. Braxton praised him for doing the right thing.

We ended up getting our shopping done at Frys instead. Still I thought the detour was worth it. We had a chance to recognize a man for his act of service even if it was small. Maybe it helped him in his day. Braxton learned that doing the right thing is more than a Sunday Sunbeam lesson. It is something we are involved in every day. This made for a happy mom!