This morning, Samuel, our almost 4 year old, got fairly mad at me when I wouldn't let him watch tv all morning. Cries...sobs... Normally we really don't watch tv, but he's been sick and inside for something like 5 days. So we watched about 45 minutes of Seseme Street.
At the end, he wanted to keep going.
Nope.
"But Daaaaaaaaaddddyyyyy!!!!"
Nope.
So as he left the room, angry and crying, closing the door he said "If I don't I won't be happy!"
And he left.
But wait...I want my kid to be happy. Don't I?
Nope. I don't.
In our society, we have elevated "happy" to the level of golden calf. We worship happy. We are all about immediate gratification, about self-fulfillment, about completing ourselves.
Tony Campolo said: "My Mama didn't care if I was happy; she wanted me to be goooooood. If I was good, happy would follow."
It seems that we've put the emotional cart before the horse.
Sam, I'm sorry you weren't happy. But I hope that you're good. Happy will follow. Be patient.
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