Teachable Moments

I'm so proud of Dayna. We had a Friday Night Frenzy last weekend. It's been awhile since we've done that. We decided to go to the mall and walk around. Dayna is not much of a fan of the mall, but she was game for the evening. We let her decide which stores we'd go into. Her plan was to spend the whole time at the play area. (Whoever invented those was a genius!) Well...she's 44" now, and the play area says for children 42" and under. What to do? To me, it's not a big deal if she goes in and plays. But I also don't want Dayna to get the message that rules aren't for her.

She stood outside the play area and made the decision for us. Her little lip started quivering, but she looked up at us and said she'd be okay. We went to the "lotion store" (Bath and Body Works) and smelled the candles. She got to spray herself with glitter spray (and me, too!) and get all glamored up. We decided to keep walking and stopped at Claire's. Santa seems to always know that a Claire's gift card is just up Dayna's alley.

While we were walking in, we noticed a girl about Dayna's age there to get her ears pierced. The family graciously let Dayna watch the process. Meanwhile, I noticed mall security circling the store. I didn't think much of it, when he walked away after about 5 minutes. I found the manager and asked a question about their starter package (just in case Dayna gets her ears pierced soon). As soon as the manager turned to talk to me, something caught her eye and she excused herself. Within about 3 steps, she apprehended a young teenager leaving the store. The girl was teary and shaking; she was led behind the counter and instructed to sit on her bottom. Minutes later, 2 more mall security officers showed up and escorted the girl to the back room. She kept saying, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Well...this was quite a teachable moment for Dayna, who stood wide-eyed at the situation. When we ate dinner later, we were talking about what happened, and how some people shoplift to get a thrill. After all, what kind of money are you really going to make from Claire's? In our conversation, I asked Dayna what she would do if her daughter was ever caught stealing. Let me tell you...Dayna has some pretty creative consequences.

This led into another great conversation about 1 Cor. 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

We talked about the difference between being sorry you did something and being sorry you were caught. When the girl saw the security guard the first time, God had given her an opportunity to find a way out. She didn't take it. Dayna was a pretty smart cookie and figured out that the girl was probably more sorry that she got caught.

As the evening wore down, Dayna discovered that window shopping could be fun after all. She even chose to let me go into a new store that looked interesting to me...even though we said Dayna could pick all the stores.

I'm so proud of my selfless, sweet girl. I'm also pretty excited that I might get myself a shopping buddy, yet!