Conversation with Toddlers

Tonight we did devotions with Judah, as we frequently do. After Michael reads a chapter or section of the Bible, he generally tries to explain what happened in language Judah can understand and perhaps draw out a moral (generally having something to do with obedience or patience). This evening he read the chapter about Jacob deciding to flee from Laban. He drew out two lessons: 1) that Laban was mean to Jacob, and 2) that Jacob was blessed by God with a lot of sheep (because he obeyed God). But tonight he tried some listening comprehension questions.\par
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He asked “Judah, was Laban nice to Jacob?” and “Judah, did God give Jacob lots of sheep?” To both questions Judah answered “yeah.” Michael patiently explained that no, Laban was Not Nice to Jacob, Laban was mean, even having Judah repeat “mean.” Then he asked him the questions again. Same response. So he explained again. Then he asked again. Same response. So he had Judah say “Not Nice” and explained that Laban was Not Nice to Jacob. When he asked again, he still got the wrong answer. In frustation he asked Judah, “Was Laban mean or nice to Jacob?” “Nice.” Finally, he switched it around “Was Laban nice or mean to Jacob?” This time he got the right answer -\’c3\’82\’c2\~”mean.” Conversations with toddlers can be kind of surreal.