The "Mean Kid"

I picked Carter up from Sunday School today and as he was running towards me, he stopped and pointed at this boy in his class and loudly announced, "Mommy, that kid is really mean. He is not nice." I quickly and quietly tell him that we will talk about it later and it is not nice to say things like that in front of other people. Then I look up to see who is working extended care duty in that room and it just so happened to be the "mean kid's" parents. I promptly scooped Carter up, apologized and ran out the door. I love it that he can communicate with me, but I guess I am going to have to start teaching him tact and discretion (good luck coming from me, right?).

So we get in the car and he proceeds to tell me that the mean kid made him run away and tried to push him and would not leave him alone. This is honestly the first time that he has gone on and on about the behavior of another child and I could tell that it bothered him. We talked some about making good choices and trying to make Jesus happy with the way that we behave. I felt like we had as much of a healthy conversation as one can have with an almost three year old. We finally sat down to lunch and Carter said the prayer (repeating after me). I got to the end and said "amen" and Carter said, "Not yet mommy. Mean kid too." As we were praying for the mean kid, I could not help but be humbled at how my son seems to understand the concept of loving our enemies almost better than I do. It is no wonder that Jesus welcomed the little children. They seem to really have it figured out- except that mean kid. (teasing of course)