Marmeeing a Two Year Old

We had Benny here for a few days while his mom was in the OB ward birthing  and caring for a new baby. Asher James Graber has been introduced. Benny is about to have his world changed forever. Up to this point Benny has been under the delusion that the world rotates around his wishes and whims.
His parents have been working diligently on changing Benny’s narrow perspective about whose wishes are priority in the daily round.  Along with 101 church sitting, comes manners and obedience and now a new sibling. Big changes for a two year old.
But Benny is up to it. He talks/reasons. He understands manipulation. He understands the repercussions of disobedience and decides to obey. I love watching the gears turning in his little head. He misses nothing. He has a strong sense of fairness to the disadvantage of not understanding why what is okay for Gompa, might not be okay for himself. If he lived here; I’d have to give up chewing gum for awhile. Or I could use it as a little lesson on  “other’s may/you cannot”.  He’ll have to figure that out anyway. I tell him, “You’re too short in the hind leg.”
Having Benny for a couple of days was just fun. I especially enjoy this age. You get to baby them for hugs and bedtimes if you want. Yet, you can visit with them.  And you can have the most fun with them over work. Benny likes to help with dishes and picking up.  He loves routine. Meals need to be prayed over holding hands. One thing he hasn’t been brought up to speed about is folded laundry.  I turned my back the other day with piles of neatly folded laundry on the couch and found them all dumped on the floor ten minutes later. Believe me, if I would have caught him in the act, he would have been educated accordingly. I had half a mind to plant the same situation again, just to get it over with, but didn’t have a chance.
Two is the prime day of opportunity to plant all the proper seeds of godly manhood. I hope we don’t wait till two to start, but if you have, you still have time to dig in and begin. Obedience is SO easy to teach at this age. Good habits, work ethics, and happiness are all taught at this age easily and successfully. It’s hilarious sometimes listening to Benny ask for something.  He is completely habitual already with his “ please” and “thank you”. It just cracks me up to hear this little mite use “please” correctly and to his advantage over the littlest things.
My word to parents of littles. Go for it, expect the best and go get it. It’s fun when it’s done. Don’t wait till Monday to start.