Identifying the Root of a Child ’ s Misbehavior
Dr . David & Amanda Erickson
One Sunday afternoon as we were leaving church , Amanda asked , “ What do you think about grabbing some lunch and running to Sam ’ s Club instead of heading home ?”
We live nearly an hour from the nearest small city , and our church is almost halfway there , so sometimes on Sundays we do the shopping that we can ’ t do in our small town .
Even so , I ( David ) was skeptical . We had a lot on our plate , we ’ d just finished a crazy and hectic week , and another equally full week awaited us . And let ’ s face it , when you take the whole family , there ’ s really no such thing as a quick trip to town . But the boys in the back seat had caught wind of the discussion and immediately began a campaign for us all to go into the city .
Reluctantly I agreed .
For some reason we decided to eat at a sitdown restaurant . Then somebody mentioned how fun it would be to try the new indoor blacklight mini-golf place . Our boys had an obvious agenda — have as much fun as possible . I also had a clear agenda — get the shopping done quickly so I could get home and start tackling my huge to-do list .
In a shocking twist , by the time we were a couple of stops into the shopping , everyone was grumpy . Frustration and disappointment were pulsating through the car , and I gritted my teeth as I heard whining and arguing from the back seat . Our family needed some peace .
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