We have 3 special "babies" in this house. Their names are: Puddles, Hedgehog and Puppet. 2 are stuffed bears and one is, well, a hedgehog (can you believe it?). Puppet and Hedgehog belong to Luke and Puddles is Savannah's treasured bear from when she was 2 years old...she LOVES Puddles and I wouldn't be surprised if she sleeps with Puddles when she is all grown up.
What amazes me about these 3 "babies" is that they're really nothing special. In fact, Puppet is one of the cheapest, junkiest stuffed bears that was acquired at some holiday when you can buy those Walmart trinkety stuffed things for like $1 a piece, but for some reason, Luke adopted him/her as his own a while ago (it's pink too!) and he just LOVES it. I don't remember where Hedgehog came from, but he used to be our cat's favorite toy and then he got lost and then found years later and now is GREATLY loved (and one of the world's best hiders, too--always hiding somewhere weird!) and Puddles was given to Savannah for her 2nd birthday by a neighbor of my parents' and was loved mostly because she has a sweet smell to her that still hasn't entirely rubbed off, even after fifteen thousand washes in the washing machine. So, why in the WORLD am I writing about these guys, you ask? And what in the world does this have to do with sin? Well, you see, even though these guys aren't anything to write home about, and even though our home is TEEMING with wonderful toys, there is a very special lure about these 3 "babies". These guys are SPECIAL. Not only to Savannah and Luke, but to AARON! Aaron realizes, at his tender young age, the lure of the forbidden. Out of all of the toys, all of the stuffed critters in this house, NOTHING has the draw of one of these three things.
Today, I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready and I had to leave him on the floor and thought that when I put him down he was going to get fussy. To my surprise, he disappeared and became very quiet. Of course, anyone who has EVER had a child knows what that means: (yeah, sit back with a nice, cool drink and enjoy the silence, right?? WRONG) CHECK IT OUT IMMEDIATELY!!! At first I thought he might be trying to climb the stairs for the 15th time of the day, but no, there he was...next to the step stool that housed (EUREKA!!) both Puppet AND Hedgehog!!! Ohhhhhh man, SCORE!!! He immediately put Hedgehog in his mouth and reached for Puppet. Now, let me just say, NOTHING irritates Luke more than a wet Hedgehog, and right now, Aaron is not only wet...but boogery, this was NOT going to fly. I had to pull them both away and distract him with a different, less adequate toy.
It just boggles my mind that at 9 months old (and even younger, for that matter) a child can recognize things that are forbidden and desire those above all else. Thankfully the things they desire at that age are generally harmless, but the principle is no different...we are sinners, we desire that which we can and should not have...and we need a Savior. It's apparent pretty much from birth...how anyone can say that we're all "basically good" is beyond me. Maybe they need to meet my 9 month old!
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