by Kelly Knowlden
An ad in a parent magazine caught my eye. A cute baby was laying on the floor with his diapers on but turning himself over. It read: “How to change a rolling pin.” It then went on to describe fairly accurately what changing a wiggling baby is like. It closed with the words: “Got a squirmy baby? Just catch, slip on, release!” Great - a solution to a big problem! The idea of teaching the baby to
lay still was not even a thought to be had.
I suppose that teaching him to eat his carrots, or to make his bed, or to put the car keys away, or to be in by 11:00, all fall into the same category. After all, what is so important about eating carrots or making his bed anyway? And by the time he is old enough to be out at 11:00, he must be old enough to make his own decisions.
The reality is that by the time he is old enough to be out at 11:00, parents will not be able to tell him anything anyway. His world will be horizontal. He will be their equal. Parents will have trained him to NOT hear their words.
The book of Proverbs teaches us something different. In this book, the world is vertical. There is an authority that has the responsibility to pass on what is important because the child is not able to determine that. “Listen, my son…” are the repeated words throughout the book. The purpose is to show the son that we need Someone outside ourselves to determine what is important. It starts with “Listen my son… lay still while your diaper is being changed…”
