Completely, Immediately, Cheerfully

I keep trying to write this blog - something keeps stopping me. Maybe it's a fourteen month old that hasn't quite learned this concept. Do your children know it? My older ones know it, but sometimes it doesn't seem like they do. What is it? Obedience, of course. Any time you make a request or give a command this should be the response you and I get from our children. Notice I said, should be. Because we live in a fallen world, this isn't the response we always get. How does it even happen?

Completely
First of all, get started. Start training now. I know that to get Abigail to pick up her toys at four years old, I will have to have her pick them up now, with me helping of course. But she will have to pick up every one, every time. I can't let her leave them to go take a nap without her quickly getting the message that picking up her toys is an option - sometimes, pick them up, sometimes not. I know fourteen months old is young to expect her to pick up all of her toys, but she is the one who pulled them out right? I'm not so unreasonable as to know that babies can't always pick up, but the point is that when she works with me now, she'll be able to do it later. I am convinced that consistency is key!

Immediately
I heard a story years ago of a dad who trained his daughter to obey him by the time he counted to three.  He would tell her to do something then say, "One, two, ....." This dad told of a time that his child was running across their yard and a power line had just fallen. The dad realizing what had happened starting yelling for the child to stop. In his own words, the child didn't take him seriously and didn't stop. Well, the result was tragic and the story has stuck in my mind. Children must obey immediately. I have said to the girls, "If that had been a snake, you'd have been bit." Meaning - they didn't obey quickly enough.

Cheerfully
Do you know what your child's face looks like when she isn't happy? I know there are some kids who can pull off the fake smile for a while, but most parents can tell when their child isn't thrilled about something. I would say, the least thrilling thing I've asked the girls to do lately is go out on the coldest morning of the year to take a lot of boxes to the road to be picked up by the garbage truck. Of the four girls that went, I got every response possible, well.... not every response possible, but four different ones. The first one out the door went so fast that she didn't even hear all of the instructions. The second one went shivering and chattering but very quickly too. The third one out never said a word, but went about the job obediently and immediately, her face set in a resolve to get it done as quickly as she could. The fourth child dragged around, groaned and moaned and waited so long that the first one out told her to go back inside that she would take care of her part. Now, in this instance, the first child out the door accomplished "completely, immediately, cheerfully" better than I could have asked her to.  I wish I could have bottled up the way she was running up and down the drive way picking up boxes that were dropped. I could market it to parents to sell as 'cheerful obedience' in a bottle. As an aside, I must note that the first girl out is a morning person, and the fourth one out had very sore muscles from canoeing. But that shouldn't matter in cheerful obedience. Our child's heart should be so happy to obey that she exudes cheerfulness even when the job is not pleasant.

Once children know the joys of obedience, their hearts can obey with cheerfulness. What are the joys of obedience? I think I'll ask my girls to see what they think.

In the meantime, I need to do some training. Abigail's toys are spread out all over my bedroom and the kitchen, while she is busily unloading the clothes hamper. I am a long ways from all of my girls obeying completely, immediately, and cheerfully, and that reveals my lack of training and consistency as much as it reveals their disobedience.