“Why are there so many folded socks in the basket of clean clothes??” – Me
“Phoebe never takes hers.” – Meg
“What does she wear?”
“She just takes socks from Ivy’s drawer…”

In the epic struggle against laundry, we have commissioned our children to put up their folded laundry. So a basket sits in front of their dresser waiting to be put into the drawers. Every week one of baskets had left over socks, leading to the conversation above…

In these moments you realize why Ivy screams at her sisters. And, while I will keep asking her to love her sisters, I understand the reaction. To be honest, I would be screaming too.

Last night I taught the TNT boys. Twelve 3rd-5th grade boys. I had lessons planned, with a video clip and a youth to do magic tricks. I broke out a Halloween passage with Ezzekiel 37 – so we also had skeleton armies. I tried to constantly keep the group moving, using three different rooms. This was all in the forty minutes before games and snack. Basically, I pulled out all the stops. But it was still every bit as gassy and chaotic as you would imagine the group. And while I was happy they did not turn on me and leave me tied up, I left wondering if I taught them anything…

I doubt they learned anything I intended to teach. But in every instance we project more than we intend. So they discovered the pastor is sarcastic – a completely useless strategy when teaching concrete thinking kids. They also learned the pastor has a Lego phone case – that does work with real Legos. There were lessons about  the gassiness of others. Discussions on what super powers we would possess… So even if I wasn’t the one in control – every thing is education.

And I can only hope they felt the core lesson – that I love them.

Which brings us back to socks. I have already confessed why Ivy yells at her sisters. I would react the same way – She learned it from me. Granted when you run out of socks because someone never puts their’s up – a little shout may be in order. But I need to remember I am always teaching. And no matter what is happening I hope  the essence of every lesson is love.

Still, I have one question, who taught Phoebe to be so sneaky??