This post, and it's a long one, was inspired by my cat. I never had a cat as a kid, although I wanted one and prayed for one, and even thought God answered my prayer once! When I graduated from college, I got a cat. I bought this little brown bit of fuzz that the seller swore was a 12 week old female. Get the cat to the vet two days later to discover that it was really a 6 week old male. What can I say, mistakes happen, and sometime for the best. He's an amazing little guy, not too vocal, doesn't chug his food, and is great company.
But the one thing that my house here doesn't have that my last house had, is a fenced in backyard. See Matti is an indoor cat with aspirations of being an outdoorsman. I call him a "real" Kentucky Wildcat. He'd prowl around his old backyard stalking butterflies and any bird crazy enough to think about landing in front of him. A few times he tried to escape but was quickly returned to the safety of his yard.
That leads up to last Thursday night. At the new house, I've allowed him to go outside onto the sidewalk where he loves to roll around and scratch his back against the rough concrete, all under my supervision. He's never run off and pretty easy to get back into the house. (You see where this is going don't you!) Well I'm outside with him about 10:00 pm, phone rings and it's my Dad. In that same moment, Matti spots another cat in the neighbor's yard and BAM, off he goes! It's dark and my cat blends in nicely with the shadows and shrubs. Three people helping me, and 1-1/2 hours later, my parents find him and we get him in the house.
How does that tie in with kids...well believe it or not, it does! The sidewalk is no longer a safe choice for Matti. He's not going to understand that (mostly because he's a cat) and wants to get out anyway. It's my job to protect him, regardless of the amount howling or crying he chooses to make. Parents have to do the same thing with kids. They protect them from things that may hurt them in ways they couldn't imagine, no matter the tantrums. At NewPointe, we try to partner with parents as they set boundaries. This month, our virtue is contentment, something that's hard for kids to comprehend, but something that's invaluable in a world of commercials and credit cards. The definition they've learned for contentment is "deciding to be happy with what you've got". One thing we use in Velocity is stories to communicate the virtues. We had a great story about contentment last weekend and I'll share it another time. But in the meantime share your own stories about contentment to your kids. Or send them to me and I might just share them with the kids this weekend!
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