The kids hear the phrase "Oh my god" a lot in the Philippines. All of their classmates, teachers, coaches, etc. say it. (I am sure they have never heard it from me. Oh absolutely not. And, they never heard me say "What the hell?" either. I have no idea where Samuel picked up that phrase. Anyway...) So, one afternoon, I was not surprised to overhear the boys talking to each other & using those words: "Oh my god..." I rounded the corner to face Samuel who knew immediately the error of his ways. I realized he knew what he was not supposed to say, but I wasn't sure if he knew why he was not supposed to say it. So, I gathered all three kids and calmly explained to them why we do not say "Oh my god" unless we are talking to God in prayer. I went on to explain that it hurts God's feelings when we take His name in vain. And, we all came up with alternate suggestions:
Oh man
Oh my goodness
Oh no
Oh wow
Now, periodically, Nick will inform me and whoever is around to listen, "Mom, we don't say 'Oh my god' because it hurts God's feelings. We can say 'Oh man' though." He is very adamant about this!
So, on Friday evening, we were sitting down at the dinner table listening to Samuel tell a wild story about a volcano, dragon and lots of lava. Febe, Sydney, Nick & I were all adding to his story, making it more & more outrageous. At one climactic point in the story, Febe said, "Oh my god. Are you serious?" Three little heads immediately whipped around to face me with anxious expressions on them. Sydney quietly asked, "Mom, are we allowed to say 'Oh my god'?" And, Nick answered, "No. But, we can say 'Oh man'."
I know that was Sydney's innocent way of tattling on Febe, but I am relieved to know that atleast that is one lesson I have taught them that has stuck! We have many, many more to go.
Tuesday, November 13
Lesson Learned
at 9:22 AM
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3 comments:
Ava started making up silly songs yesterday and in one of them she started using the word "God" as she sang all silly and laughed. So, I gave her that same lesson. She got really serious and looked down all sad and ashamed. (I wasn't mean or angry at all, I told her in as nice a way as I could) and then went to her room for a while. I think this is one of the most important lessons we can teach- that God is a real Being deserving of the highest honor, instead of looking the other way or thinking it's just a meaningless cultural expression. I'm proud of you for taking a stand against it. You are laying a good foundation for your kiddos!
We had that same lesson last year and sitting at a baseball game one of the umps made a bad call my mother-in-law said "Go my God" and Lance looked up at her and said "You can't say that you have to say Oh no or Oh man" I had wanted to say that to her for years, yea for 5 year olds that speak up.
(it won't let me log in so I am anonymous- Dixie :-) )
This really cute! That's wonderful how Samuel, Sydney, and Nick learned so well.:-) They are such sweet little ones!
We really miss you all too!
~The Feenys
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