DADDY: I confess...I've figured out a way to manipulate you. Not in a bad way. There are just certain times when you aren't listening and aren't doing what you need to do. So here's what I've figured out:
But before I say my evil plan, I need to lay down the ground rules.
(1) "Fathers, don't provoke your children to wrath," the Bible teaches. So there's a fine line I need to learn to walk.
(2) "God has not given us a spirit of fear," the Bible teaches. Or the paraphrase that helps guide me...If God doesn't give you a spirit of fear, then neither do I. I shouldn't operate by making you afraid of things you shouldn't be afraid of.
(3) I keep in mind your personality, your individual set of wants, likes, dislikes, and quirks.
So with those as a foundation, here we go.
Let's say your dolly clothes are on the floor, the empty green bin awaiting its toys. I pick up dolly's changing pad and say, "Okay, dolly's changing pad goes in here." I put the pad in the BLUE bin.
All of a sudden, you care. You are a very organized person when you want to be. Everything has its place, and if I put it in the wrong spot, you say, "No, not like that!"
So you come over and take the changing pad out of the blue bin and tell me it goes in the green bin. I grab the next toy and ask you, "Which bin?" You take it and put it in its proper bin. And so on.
Very quickly, the toys are in the places YOU want them to be. You're the teacher. You've taught me.
Or so you think. ;)
But before I say my evil plan, I need to lay down the ground rules.
(1) "Fathers, don't provoke your children to wrath," the Bible teaches. So there's a fine line I need to learn to walk.
(2) "God has not given us a spirit of fear," the Bible teaches. Or the paraphrase that helps guide me...If God doesn't give you a spirit of fear, then neither do I. I shouldn't operate by making you afraid of things you shouldn't be afraid of.
(3) I keep in mind your personality, your individual set of wants, likes, dislikes, and quirks.
So with those as a foundation, here we go.
Let's say your dolly clothes are on the floor, the empty green bin awaiting its toys. I pick up dolly's changing pad and say, "Okay, dolly's changing pad goes in here." I put the pad in the BLUE bin.
All of a sudden, you care. You are a very organized person when you want to be. Everything has its place, and if I put it in the wrong spot, you say, "No, not like that!"
So you come over and take the changing pad out of the blue bin and tell me it goes in the green bin. I grab the next toy and ask you, "Which bin?" You take it and put it in its proper bin. And so on.
Very quickly, the toys are in the places YOU want them to be. You're the teacher. You've taught me.
Or so you think. ;)
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