I May Be in Trouble

Kyler - he is my pal.  We spend quite a bit of time together and the kid has talents, his coordination is way up there but his brain power might make the coordination look minimal.  As for knowing his abc's, or colors, or numbers (scholastic matters) he may be a little behind but when it comes to learning something he WANTS to know you only have to show him once and only once.
For an example, pbskids.org.  He loves this website and would frequently ask me to pull it up for him.  I decided I would make our lives easier and teach him about icons and bookmarks.  I showed him once and now he accesses the site on his own whenever he so desires.  (Looking back maybe this wasn't such a good idea).

A few weeks ago in the interest of safety, I decided to embrace technology and program some speed dials into my cell phone.  Soon after Kyler wanted to call his father.  I taught him to push and hold the number 2 on my "little" phone and dad will answer.  He uses this to his advantage -- during the softball games last week he wanted to call his dad.  I told him he COULDN'T.  A few minutes later in the middle of the game Andy is telling Kyler it isn't a good time for him to talk.  He had made the phone call I told him not to.  After he hung up, Kyler told me, "See, I COULD call dad."

Andy took everyone but Aysen and I down to St. George to cheer on the 12U Steeler team.  (I didn't want Aysen to have to make the drive).  I was leaving for Nephi and couldn't find my phone anywhere.  I called it again and again and again and wandered the house listening for the ring.  I finally called Andy and asked him to ask Kyler if he knew where it was; he had used it earlier in the afternoon to call his father.  He responded he had no idea where it could be.

The next day, Andy got a call from my phone and answered, "You found it."

He then heard Kyler in his ear say, "Hi dad.  Want to talk to Grandma?"  (Andy had left him at her house playing with Josie).  Ughhhhhh!

After later questioning he informed us he took it and hid it in his bag.  He wanted to be able to call.  I'm not sure many 4 year olds have cell phones and I don't plan on supplying him with one in the foreseeable future.  On the other hand, maybe he thinks of it as a security blanket knowing his father is only one button away.  

If I take a minute to learn from this situation instead of thinking of ways to punish my son, I could realize my Heavenly Father is just one prayer away.  But with prayer, the line is never busy, the service always has 5 bars and the battery is never dead.  This makes cell phones seem so much less vital.  I can talk to Him anytime, anywhere -- the best security blanket.