Someone recently told me as Ben is getting older to start taking advantage of “teachable moments”- everyday situations that lend themselves to teaching valuable moral lessons.
So, today the boys and I were playing and Ben threw a toy and it hit me in the foot. I looked at him and said, “Ben did you just throw a toy at mama”?
No.
Here we go. My son is lying to me. A teachable moment has arrived. Here is my big chance to teach truth and responsibility to my son. I leaned down so our faces were close for our serious conversation. It went like this:
Me: Buddy do you know what lying is?
Ben: Yeah.
Me: You do? (a little skeptical)
Ben: Yeah. ( a little more excited)
Me: O.K. Buddy, what’s a lie?
Ben: ROARRRRRRRR
I started laughing really hard and our moment was over. I guess we’ll keep trying.