1981
it is sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Picture Barry (12), Steven (10) and David (5) sitting at our round kitchen table, each holding a pen with black ink. All three wiggle with anticipation until the teacher-in-me sits down and passes around three Sears-Roebuck Toy Catalogues, each of which is as hefty as a phone book, and every page seems heaven sent to my three sons, because each is about to express wishes for everything that a child's heart could possibly desire without so much as a lick of guilt to trouble their minds! As this has become an annual tradition in our home, each knows full well that he is on the cusp of experiencing pure joy! I mean feeling sanctioned to experience unlimited greed free of guilt is rare, indeed! And as not one child had a clue as to the slew of lessons that this annual tradition drummed into three open, young minds, year after year, their attentiveness to leadership made my spirit cartwheel with joy, as well. I mean, seriously, the most absorptive learning takes place while young minds are receptive to having fun.
All four of us enjoyed this tradition, year in and year out, for this reason:
Page by page, the boys got to circle every toy that each young mind felt free to covet without a lick of guilt marring pure delight.
They also enjoyed discussing their choices with each other, at length
And for a short while, they felt as though their mother was empowered
To send all three straight to heaven
And here's why those hefty catalogues, which
I'd stopped at Sears to pick up, seemed heaven-sent to me, too:
I knew this yearly tradition, which
Delighted my three, wild and crazy guys, would offer
A busy working mom, raising three active kids
At least an hour of peace and quiet (several times) for this reason:
The boys knew that I'd follow through with consequences if
Anyone chose to disrespect any of the rules, which
They would recite to me before each catalogue was opened
In fact, at the first sign of unruly behavior, leadership would
Whisk these coveted catalogues away until another day, and
Though three children felt eager to discuss their choices with me
All discussion was reserved for each other until
Such time as I decided the time was ripe to sit down and
Listen to responsible decisions that
They'd helped each other to make, and as
The catalogues came out of the cupboard four times
Before I'd discuss their choices and then
Begin to buy and hide Chanukah treasures around the house
We'd experience this comunal sense of delight, again and again
And throughout each session of this creative endeavor
It was clear to all that Mom was the leader ...
On the other hand, each child was allowed to caution his brothers
To remember that leadership would bring an early end to
That day's session of catalogue delight for all if
Any rule was broken by one, and
As they knew me to follow through
Their catalogues had been whisked away only once
Needless to say, each child felt free to stop circling toys on
Page after page whenever he liked; however, generally
All three remained verbally engaged with each other's choices until
Leadership had need to set the timer for
Five minutes more before redirecting the peanut gallery to
Ready themselves for homework or a practice or
Dinner or bed ...
BTW, if a rule had been broken and if leadership had failed to
Follow through with the designated consequence of
Closing up shop, right there and then ...
Then frustration would have replaced communal delight, causing
The simplicity of the plan to fall apart ...
And as none wanted to cut short each trip to heaven
Everyone remained attuned to each rule, meaning that
*No one could ask when the catalogues would be placed on
The kitchen table ...
*If any begging or whining took place
No catalogue would be seen on that day
*Though the boys were busting to discuss
Their many choices with me, they quickly learned to
Develop the patience and self disciplined mindset necessary to
Divert their verbal interaction to their brothers until
Leadership decided that readiness to listen felt ripe for Mom
And as the boys had no clue which day
Leadership (in need of peace and quiet) would place
The catalogues on the kitchen table, again (with blue pens)
This band of brothers (anticipating
Future sessions of delight), chose to respect
Every rule including the rule of not begging leadership to
Engage in discussion until four catalogue sessions, each of which
Made use of different colors of ink, led to
The final session of heaven sent delight when
Leadership determined that it was time to sit down and
Listen to each child impart the wisdom that
Three well-groomed, young brains had ascertained while
This trio of Mouseketeers learned to work, together, as
A well-organized, mutually supportive
Self disciplined, wholly delightful band of
Not so wild and crazy, yet always high spirited brothers
And if you'd like to know what they did with
The blue pens, the green pens and the red pens before leadership
Sat down to listen to their decisions, please Stay tuned☺️
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