The battle of the Blue Penguin

My girls got this really cool game for Christmas. It’s called the Amazing Moa Hunt and it’s a game that tests your NZ geography.

 

If you are looking for a present for a family or your family I would thoroughly recommend it. But the main purpose of this post is not to encourage consumerism. We have a battle over one of the playing counters.

It is a game for 4 people and the four counters are NZ native birds, one of which is the Blue Penguin. The first time we played G1 wanted to be Blue Penguin, and the next time and the next time. In fact, two weeks later, she would only play the game if she could have the Blue Penguin counter.

Now this may seem like a really trivial issue, so what if she is fixated on one counter?

One of my favourite parenting books is Shepherding a Childs Heart. Tedd Tripp emphasises the importance of looking at what causes your child’s behaviour, in other words how they are acting is speaking about what is in their heart.

So what is an unhealthy obsession with a Blue Penguin saying about G1?

This is what we saw underlying it – the desire to control, and a fear of something new. These heart attitudes are understandable and related, by controlling the situation she doesn’t have to try something new. But these attitudes have the potential to become un-Godly.

So what did we do?

First, G1 is not allowed to be Blue Penguin and she must play the game and try different counters. But also we talked to her and named the behaviours. I told her that it is hard to try new things but she needs to learn to trust God because she will have to try lots of new things as she moves towards adulthood. I also told her that being in control can be good but she needs to let others be in control as well, her parents and God. I understand that the board game is something a 10 year old has power over but she also needs to understand that if she lets her parents be in charge first then maybe she will be allowed to have control over something bigger, like the washing machine. And ultimately, as her parents, we want to see her surrender her life to God’s control not her own.

‘Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.’ (Proverbs 22:15 NASB).

The battle over a counter in a board game is foolish. It is our job as parents to apply discipline that draws our children away from the foolishness’ of their hearts and towards God’s wisdom.

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