What’s Important?

We have a rule for our boys that they may not come out of their rooms after we kiss them goodnight unless it is for something important (subject to the arbitrary discretion of mom and dad), upon penalty of having to stay in their room 5 minutes longer in the morning. It is torturous for them to know that their brothers are eating breakfast 5 minutes before them, so it is quite an effective deterrent.

It is so interesting to see what they deem important enough to be willing to risk morning time out. Last week our 4 year old came out because he could not remember the name of the gold robot in Star Wars, C3PO, but when he threw up in bed, we didn’t know until the morning, because he didn’t think that was important enough to tell us and risk 5 extra minutes.

I feel like this week between Thanksgiving and the start of Advent is a gift. Usually we are coming back from Thanksgiving travels and I am trying to get the Jesse tree up and unpack the same day. But this year we have a whole week. I think Our Lord wants me to use it to think about what is really important. Sometimes God must smile at my silly worries, what I think is critically important, just as my husband and I smile at the urgent things that go through our 4 year old’s head as he is trying to fall asleep. Perhaps we can all use this week to prepare to prepare for the birth of Jesus by thinking about what is really important.