Parenting with Grace.

Toys. Such a simple word but such a huge effect on kids as well as some adults. I think toys are essential for the growth and development of young children. As it is, our family believe toys are an important part of family expenses, and Rachel gets to enjoy a room, commonly known as the store room or maid's room, dedicated to her toys.

Her first toy was a four note, arpeggio little tikes piano when she was not yet born. It was a gift from her proud and excited dad, along with a Marks & Spencer children's bible and a super cute doggie book mark. I bought many toys for Rachel but I cannot at this moment recall what was the first toy that I had bought her. Was it the soft fabric animals book that had been ebayed away or was it the Fisher Price Bouncing Bongo that had malfunctioned and therefore was trashed. Whatever it was, it does not matter as buying toys from Toy r' us , and other toy departments is part and parcel of almost every shopping or outing we had.

This morning after a Hotcakes breakfast that our princess wanted, we proceeded to parkway parade, our usual hangout for some simple shopping which invariably means buying Rachel's stuff. She bought the Ben 10 Kelvin E Levine character costing $12.95 and some 30 mins later lost it in Borders. She had insisted on taking care of her new toy instead of entrusting it to my bag. When she realised it was lost, she howled so loudly that the entire shopping centre was disturbed. We went on a fruitless search though I knew any pre-school boy would covet it gladly. In the end, the poor mother, that's me, had to deal with her misery.

What would you do??????

My mother would not buy the toy in the first place. But most likely she will scream at me and hit me for being careless, for losing wasting money etc. I tried to reason with Rachel. I explained that if she had listened to me, allowed me to safe-keep her new toy, she would not have suffered this unnecessary premature loss. She wailed all the more louder. Big drops of tears tumbled down her chubby cheeks, one after another. She was clearly upset with herself. I was in a dilemma. Being quite compassionate the person I am, I decided to get her the same toy.

Am I spoiling her???????Most would say yes!!!!!!!! She need to understand and learn the lesson. What would Jesus do???????Or the church that extols parenting with grace???????? What difference it makes, to buy the same toy, to cheer her up and encourage her to be more careful in the future????? We can simply not buy any more toys in the coming month. Or very likely, I can do without many things that I need, premium coffee, cab rides and snacks included. To a certain extent I do have the power, though limited budget to make my child happy again.

I am glad that I did what my heart tells me to do. With the replacement toy, my child learns that she is forgiven and her mother loves her so much as to sacrifice her own needs. Rachel went home happy and cherished. I had the much needed peace.

It's certainly worth NOT having coffee breaks at cafes and snacks for me. After all, I need to have my sexy figure back, before i start to revamp my wardrobe when the finances improve.