Toys or Little Brother?

From Mr. Handsome:

For the most part, Little Buddy is very good about sharing with his younger brother. The two of them enjoy playing together, and we have loved watching their relationship grow. Recently, however, there was an incident where Little Buddy chose not to share something, so I sat down with him and had a conversation about the issue.

​I started out by asking Little Buddy what he thought the most important thing in life was. I was ecstatic when he replied, “The most important thing is God.” Apparently he has been listening in Sunday school.

“Good job, Little Buddy!” I proudly proclaimed. “Now what is the second most important thing?”

​“Toys!” he shouted excitedly.

I realized I still had some work to do, so I calmly asked, “Little Buddy, if we walked into the woods with your toys and your little brother, which one would you be more sad about losing?” He thought about it for a minute and conceded that he would be more sad about losing his brother. I then explained that God is most important, followed by family, and because family is more important than toys, we should be willing to share our toys with our little brother. “Okay, Daddy” Little Buddy sighed.

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I felt like I had really done some fantastic parenting and decided to celebrate by pulling out my phone and checking up on the daily news (my favorite time waster). As I was scrolling through the latest political scandal, Little Buddy piped up, “Daddy, I have a question.”

“Of course, son. What’s on your mind?”

“Daddy, is family more important, or are phones?” At that moment, I realized my five-year-old had just outsmarted me.

“Well of course family is more important than phones,” I replied.

“Well, Daddy, could you put down your phone and play with me?”

Of course I put down my phone and played with him. I also took a moment to realize that keeping priorities straight can be just as hard for adults as it is for kids.