From the archives...III

Bad choices = Alcohol

Posted Sep 24, 2010 1:20pm

I paused for maybe 10 seconds trying to decide if I should share this - and decided that it is just too funny not to!

Both of our boys are in school and with that comes the education of alcohol and drugs. Micah (our 3rd grader) doesn't really ask questions about the things he learns in school, I think he just waits on Owen to ask the crazy questions and then listens intently. So now Owen is learning all the "Just Say No" facts and soaking them up like a sponge. I guess they educate in general terms because we have had family discussions defining what alcohol is. I remember the evening I was going to use rubbing alcohol on Owen to remove a tattoo and he flipped out, thinking I was giving him drugs.

So as of this very moment, our boys have learned that alcohol consists of beer and wine. We're saving the hard liquor and mixed drinks education for middle school. We talk alot about cigarettes and what it does to your lungs and the patients we see at the cancer center. My children have been known to blurt out (very loudly - I might add) "Why is that man smoking when he knows it's not good for him? Doesn't he know what it will do to his lungs?". So as my children are sorting out all of the choices to be made in life...their wheels are turning.

At the ages of 9 and 6, it's just easier to tell them that ALL alcohol and drugs are bad for them, rather than try to have the "in moderation" talk... which leads to the stumbling block message...which leads to the conviction talk...so right now - it's ALL bad. That's our story and we're sticking to it! (until they get older)  So we have talked about how drinking too much alcohol keeps you from making good choices and you do things that aren't smart and get you in trouble. And just to hammer this point home, I pulled up Tim Hawkin's video of "I don't drink beer" on YouTube for a good laugh. They also LOVE his Chick-fil-a songs - but that's another story.

OK - so I told you all of that to finally get to the point. I was eating breakfast this morning with the boys and I asked Micah what the behavior in his GATE classroom was like. Did he have any cut-ups that had to be disciplined regularly? He said "no", that everyone was really pretty good. Well, the smallest of the small ones piped up and said that he has this one little boy in his class that is ALWAYS doing things to get in trouble. Owen leaned across the table to get closer to Micah and whispers loudly: "He drinks beer!". Say what? I asked Owen why he would say that...and he looked at me serious as a heart attack and says: "Well he must drink beer, because he is always making bad choices". Oh my goodness! Micah and I CRACKED UP! Out of the mouth of babes!

So in my children's eyes, bad choices = alcohol. Period.  I guess we need to increase our family discussions on grace...

Happy weekend!
the Becks