"Hey YOU, Want to Fight?"

I am always searching for great books to read with the kids. It can be tough sometimes searching out those great reads that not only captivate young audiences but keep the reader ’the grown up’ awake while snuggling down in a cozy bed with warm little bodies around them. A while ago I had heard my husband reading to the kids, The Grouchy Lady Bug by Eric Carle. As I walked by the room I heard giggling, so much so that I had to stop and sit and listen.

A grumpy nasty lady bug tries to pick fights with every animal it encounters with a screechy angry voice until it picks a fight with a large blue whale. All of the animals are patient but warn of their various defense tactics, but my favorite was the blue whale who doesn’t respond even when this lady bug keeps trying to pick a fight. There is no comment until… “SLAP!!!!” the fin of the whale knocks the lady bug right back where it started! Oh the lessons that I could pull from this book… I’ll stick to self application

I’m thinking about all of the times that I have tried to pick fights. I’ve been irritated on the freeway, the grocery store checkout line, the park, the mall, even the dinner table. I grouch at people… total strangers and even the little ones that I love the most. For a number of reasons I could be grouchy, but I think the thing that deserves the most contemplative thought is that my aggressive crabbiness was unprovoked by the innocent by-standers. It’s not kind or loving at all, and it is only a matter of time before I get slapped right back to where I started.

I can think of a few times today that I have crabbed at my kiddos. One instance had peanut butter crackers and shag carpet in the same experiment! The still small voice tells me I could have handled it a lot differently. It’s important to set those good examples for our little ones, even the examples that show how to say, “I’m sorry for being so grouchy today, will you forgive me?” It’s good to know that I am not perfect and that grace should be extended to everyone who’s not perfect too!