Today's children's SS lesson (4&5 y/o)

[klpmommy]

Today the lesson was being taught by a lady & her preteen daughter. They don't normally teach in this class- it is the first time I have seen them.

They started to talk about punishment as part of the lesson (it didn't really fit, but they had tons of leftover time & didn't know what to fill it with before the music person came in to sing with the kids).

Two things that bothered me: one, the mom said that "children obey your parents" is one of the Ten Commandments. The misinformation bothered me. There is a difference IMO b/w "obey" and "honor". Or am I wrong?

But the one that got me when they were talking about punishment is the preteen dd decided to give an example of something that she is punished for- drawing on her hands. A couple of the kids in the class said they were punished for the same thing- drawing or painting on themselves. The mom is up there nodding & smiling. :/ E & P were both snuggled with me & they looked at me really confused & I said that when we draw on ourselves we wash ourselves or take a bath. Then P&E had to clarify- "what if we paint ourselves, then we take a bath & paint ourselves again?" I said we would take another bath (we got up to 10 baths, silly kids).

I really don't understand why someone would punish their child for drawing on themselves. Walls, yes (although I obviously don't believe in punishment so *I* wouldn't do it, but in a different mindset I can see it), but themselves????

[SouthPaw]

[J3K]

It "doesn't look right" to others.

My daughter likes to give herself tattoos.

I too, think it's unfortunate when someone mistakes "honor thy parents" for "obey thy parents." They are not synonyms.

[ArmsOfLove]

UGH what an icky lesson and you're right--there is a difference between honor and obey--though if what the parents were commanding was for you to observe Torah there would be no difference

And I think it's interesting that people worry about their children drawing on themselves Sometimes I get out markers for that very purpose

[jenn3514]

Thats why we buy only washable markers! Makes clean-up so much easier.
But, yes, I don't get the point of that lesson.

[TraceMama]

It's so frustrating when things like that happen at SS! "Honor" is definitely different than "obey" and I'd actually be interested to know the Hebrew root of "honor" as it's used in the 10 Commandments --- chances are, not only is it VERY different from "obey" but possibly even from what we understand "honor" to mean.

The parents who punish children writing/drawing on themselves are probably concerned about their children one day wanting to get a tattoo, simply because it's perceived as a social taboo and would (in the parents' mind) link their children to a certain group of people. Of course, I think it's actually healthy and ds1 often wears toe-nailpolish too

In our SS class today, after a girl pushed another, the SS teacher (I was just the helper) used questions like, "Would Jesus want you to push?" "Is Jesus happy when you push?", etc. I just said, "G looks sad because you pushed her. Would you like to say sorry?" It bothered me that there was some element of shame in the questions asking what Jesus would feel about her pushing....but maybe I'm over-reacting

[MarynMunchkins]

I used to get in trouble for writing on myself. I never have figured out why.

It annoys me to find pen all over my kids, but it's not that big a deal. That's why we have soap.

I actually had some markers in the truck for an 8 hour road trip. The kids got bored and decorated each other . I thought it was so cute. BUT, walked into Cracker Barrell for dinner and had someone say, "WHAT DID THEY DO!!!" And another guy said "well, I know who's going to get punished tonight". I was looking at them like they were nuts. This was 6 hours into an 8 hour drive, they got bored, hey, they didn't start fighting or yelling, or crying, or going nuts, so I was HAPPY that they used that as an outlet.

[mwwr]

Originally Posted by KitKat

I actually had some markers in the truck for an 8 hour road trip. The kids got bored and decorated each other . I thought it was so cute. BUT, walked into Cracker Barrell for dinner and had someone say, "WHAT DID THEY DO!!!" And another guy said "well, I know who's going to get punished tonight". I was looking at them like they were nuts. This was 6 hours into an 8 hour drive, they got bored, hey, they didn't start fighting or yelling, or crying, or going nuts, so I was HAPPY that they used that as an outlet.

I wonder what would have happened if you had asked the guy what he was talking about. I would have loved to see the reaction.

Originally Posted by mwwr

I wonder what would have happened if you had asked the guy what he was talking about. I would have loved to see the reaction.

I would have loved to see that too. But see, I am one of these people that never thinks of what to say until AFTER I leave. Then I start thinking, "man, I should have said....."

[J3K]

I am one of those mom's that writes ON their children. Smiley faces , stars , dot to dot with freckles....I just encourage not to use pencil because of the lead. And not ball point pens because of the ink...but erasable markers...why not ?

[klpmommy]

....and considering I am about ready for the kids to draw all over my Binkiness belly it would be kind of hard to explain to them why they couldn't draw on themselves. I wonder what that mom in the SS class would think about that?

Glad to see that I am not along in thinking this is a silly thing to be concerned about. Like Mary it often irritates me, but it is just soap & water to fix it (and about 3 swipes if they are washable.)

[TraceMama]

Having them write all over the baby belly would be SO much fun! What a great idea! Make sure you get a picture to put in Binkiness' baby book

[Heather Micaela]

Originally Posted by ArmsOfLove

And I think it's interesting that people worry about their children drawing on themselves Sometimes I get out markers for that very purpose

well, no matter how many times I assure dh it is not toxic, he is convinced it is bad for them. He has pondered banning markers even So out of respect for this I don't support the kids deliberate drawing on themselves. Instead they cover themselves in stickers

But even so he would not punish the kids for writing on themselves. The would just get scrubbed

Well, I don't agree with the lesson given and think it is ok for other kids to color themselves, but we do not color on ourselves or get our hands stamped at the library or church or wherever, unless it is absolutely required for re entry into something that we must leave and return to later.

The real reason is that we follow the Feingold diet and we avoid dyes in our food and on our bodies - including lotions or bubble baths or anything with dye. I have found that it affects my kiddos behavior the same way. Are there vegetable dye markers? Those would be ok.