Repentance and a 3DS

I have an awesome son. Seriously, probably the best ever. Recently (no more than 2 months ago), Sean was invited to spend the night at his cousin's house where they were going to pig out on pizza, go to a monster truck show and stay up to what I'm sure was the wee hours of the morning. I suggested he take his camera with him to the truck show so he could get some stellar photos. He said he didn't want to lose it. Understandable, right? So, I dropped the issue. He took his DSi with him to play with while at the sleepover (this is something is does often...that DSi went with him everywhere). He had been warned repeatedly to keep the DSi (BTW, it's an upgraded version of a Nintendo DS...handheld video game device to you old-schoolers) in his bag, with the bag zipped shut to prevent any loss of games, chargers, etc. Seriously, Lyle and i have admonished him to do this no less than a ba-zillion times. When I went to pick Sean up the next night, my sister told me the awful story (well, technically she told me again, she had told me over the phone the night before).

Even though Sean had chosen not to take his digital camera for fear of losing it, he HAD chosen to take his DSi to take pictures with. Which, in itself, isn't a huge issue. But...he didn't take it in it's bag. He put it in his back pocket. The DSi he had was an XL which means it was extra large...it stuck up above his pocket at least 3 inches. Easily seen, easily taken. The boys rode the TRAX train with their adult supervision and Sean realized as he got off the train on the way home...he no longer had his DSi. Ever the knight in shining armor, Adam (the adult supervision) attempted to jump back on the train to see if the DSi was on a seat...but he wasn't fast enough. As Adam and my sister discussed it they realized there was a good chance it had been pilfered right from his pocket as the train was filled to capacity and it was standing room only. Either way, the DSi was gone...and Sean was in tears. He kept saying, "My parents are going to kill me". Adam went home and tried calling the event center where the truck show was held and UTA to see if they found the DSi...to no avail. Sean cried over his loss for about half an hour, and then abruptly stopped. Adam asked him if he was ok. Sean replied, "Yeah. I just realized that crying won't bring it back, and I don't want to ruin the rest of the night for everyone else." We adults were all quite impressed with that attitude.

As we drove home that night, Sean and I discussed the situation. I tried desperatley to impress upon Sean that the loss of his DSi was a direct consequence of his disobedience; not to not take it to the monster truck show, but to not place it safely in his bag where it couldn't get stolen. I was disappointed that he was disobedient, and I was heart-broken that he had suffered such an intense consequence (like I said, that DSi went everywhere with him...it was like an extra appendage). But, I persevered in the teaching moment and we talked about the repentance process. I told Sean that in addition to the consequence of losing the DSi, he had lost our trust in his ability to be responsible for his possessions. We talked about what's involved in the repentance process. Yes, he understood he did something wrong and he didn't want to do it again (although, I'm still not entirely sure that referred to losing the DSi or being disobedience). Yes, he apologized...profusely. "I'm sorry" were practically the only words I heard all the way home that night. Lastly, restitution (he'd already stated he didn't want to do it again). I told him he needed to earn the money to replace what he had lost through his disobedience. It would take a long time. It would be expensive. It would be worth it. Sean sold his own items to earn the money in addition to earning a weekly allowance.

This morning, around 11, Sean proudly handed over his money to the clerk at Wal-mart and bought a flame red 3DS. Throughout the day I heard comments like, "This is the BEST day ever!", and "I can't believe I finally got it!" and "It's in my hands. In MY hands!". I'm proud of him for sticking to the plan and earning the money. I'm proud of him for completing the repentance process. But, most of all, I'm just proud to be his Mom. He teaches me every day how I can be a better person and I find my heart growing every day to hold the love I have for him. There are days it seems my heart will explode...but somehow, it always finds room to hold all I feel for my sweet first-born miracle.