More Natural Consequences

You know how they say natural consequences teach more than any punishment you could devise?  Not so much with Sammy . . .

Today we went to the park with our playgroup.  We were there to make bird feeders.  Apparently, it is National Feed the Birds Month - we're supposed to help feed and shelter birds.  So we were making bird feeders out of milk jugs, and hanging them with cheerio stringers.  It's pretty simple - cut a hole in the milk jug, decorate it with leaves and twigs, then fill the bottom with bird seed.  String cheerios on twine, tie off, and loop the cheerio stringer through the milk jug handle as a hanger.

Part of making the bird feeders was a mama's job.  You were supposed to use kitchen scissors to cut the hole in the milk jug.  So we used kitchen scissors.  We had several pairs of them.  And after we finished with them, we left them on the picnic table.

Fast forward a few minutes.  The kids had a great time playing in the park . . .

Evan, Matthew, Sammy & Grayson playing with the hippo!

Sophia and Abigail playing in the clover!

After playing, it was time for lunch.  Sammy and his best friend Grayson were sitting at the picnic table.  The picnic table where the kitchen scissors were also sitting.  You know what's coming . . . Sammy and Grayson were sharing food.  Sammy gave Grayson some cheese, Grayson shared pudding with Sammy.  I gave Sammy baby carrots and walked over to push Sophia in the swing. 

Princess Sophia just a 'swingin!

When all of the sudden I hear a cry.  And I look over to see Sammy screaming.  Turns out, he wanted to cut his baby carrot in half to share with Grayson.  And instead he cut his finger.  With kitchen scissors.  Are you kidding me?  I thought he would have learned the other day.  He did it so fast that my girlfriend Debra didn't even see it - she was sitting right across from him and he just did it. 

My mommy instincts kicked right in.  I held him, I hugged him, I stopped the blood . . . and he cried.  It was so rough - especially given that I couldn't hold Sophia as well.  I'm so glad my girlfriends were there.  Debbie, and then Phyllis all stepped in to help with Sophia, and I finally got Sammy to calm down as well. 

On the plus side, I think he finally gets not to play with the scissors.  If this didn't make an impact, I don't know what will, because I was afraid he'd cut his finger off . . . He'll heal, even if he doesn't like bandaids . . . And what did Mommy learn?  Put the kitchen scissors away - ASAP!