Well here it is, the Season of Sharing & Caring... Peace and Goodwill towards Fellow Man. And we've Promoted and Hopefully Instilled that Philosphy in all of the Children... so the last thing one would expect is a Christmas Cake Fight to break out between the G-Kid Force, The Man and The Son, right?!!??! WRONG!!!
You see, this weekend Prince R comes Home from Sunday School with a Lovely Red Velvet Christmas Cake he was given by the Salvation Army Church for the Family... only in his Mind it's HIS Cake exclusively... and he makes a HUGE Production about EVERYONE having to ask 'Permission' to have any of HIS Cake! So much for any Sunday School Lessons about the Grace of Sharing, the Spirit of Generosity, being a Joyful Giver to Please the Lord & not being Selfish or Mean Spirited towards others about mere Stuff... most especially at Christmastime! *Le Sigh*
Now to some People being Generous and having a Selfless Spirit comes more Naturally than to Others... he's one of those "Others". *LOL* His Lil Sister, Princess T, on the other hand, is the more Generous Spirit who doesn't have to be prompted to Share, its her Nature to and she does so Joyfully & often... and sometimes she won't even take something for herself unless she can be assured her Big Brother is going to get some/one too!
And so I can more closely Relate to that... and to her... because that has always been my Nature too... even as a Child I Insisted on Sharing and Giving, Receiving Great Joy in it. So it can be difficult for me to Relate to or have Patience for those whose Nature seems to find it a Challenge to be Giving or to Share... and who display Selfish, Egocentric Behaviors and attach Conditions to any Generosity they might bestow upon others... regardless of how Good to or exceedingly Generous those others have been to them.
It is a Character Trait that I Confess I don't have a lot of Tolerance with or for... even though I realize that the Degree & Level of Generosity varies from Person to Person much like any other Character Trait... none of us is Perfect... and we all have our areas of weakness and flaws that we could Work upon. I suppose I really want Prince R to Work on being able to Give or Share without resentment, negative attitude or strings attached to the Giving or Sharing. And obviously he finds that more difficult to do than I could possibly Imagine!!!??! That was painfully evident when it came to this darn Cake!!!
Yes, he Reluctantly Shared the coveted Cake with the rest of the Family... under Protest and obviously not liking it one bit!! He was Petulant, he watched that Cake like a Hawk, ready to pounce on whoever wanted a piece!!! He yelled at and had a Fit about the Desire of anyone else to have some even though he was eagerly cutting & Enjoying big slices for himself in front of others. He wanted to be in Charge of The Cake... he wanted to mete out the Portions and have everyone come to him first before they got any... IF he chose to give a piece to that person... and well, we weren't having that. Controlling that Cake had become Paramount to this Child & he dug his heels in even though he could see it was causing Strife and Hurt Feelings within the Family & with a visiting Friend! There was to be no Harmony in Bohemian Valhalla as long as that darn Cake existed my Friends! *Huge Sigh*
And even with explanations & lecture that The Cake had been given to him to Deliver to his Family and was meant for ALL... and wasn't his Lil Sister and his Uncle a part of his Family? Didn't we always Share & display Hospitality with Guests if we eat anything while they're present? And wasn't all other Food purchased in the household by us and his Uncle equally Shared & Enjoyed by ALL? And that nobody around here was The Food Police! *Winks* And nobody was not allowing him to eat something just because he hadn't bought any of the Food he was eating daily! He still Struggled... and there was much Fighting & Fussing about The Cake around here... to the Point Gramma & Grandpa wanted to just throw the darn Cake out!!! *LOL* I was seriously regretting that the Church had given it to him to bring Home! What could have been a Joyful Thing Shared had instead become an Issue of Contention between Loved Ones and I absolutely Hated that!
And it was very Disappointing & Discouraging to see my Beloved Grandson being so Stubbornly Selfish, Dark, Bitter and Mean Spirited about a flippin Cake! He had upset & been Hurtful to his Uncle, his Sister and his Grandpa tremendously... and on more than one occassion... just because each of them wanted just one small slice & not anticipating it causing so much Drama & Hysteria!!! It was just Cake for Heaven's Sakes... and a GIFT at that from the Church! Since Chocolate was involved in said Cake I was out of the Loop of imbibing and Ironically I was the only one he even offered to Share any with! He knows I can't eat Chocolate and so perhaps he felt confident I'd have to decline the offer? And that kinda bugged me too... so I told him I'd give the piece he'd offered me to someone else... Nope, that wasn't gonna fly, in his Mind that just meant more for him! *Le Sigh* He was definitely having a little Black Heart Moment & it was very unbecoming!
I wanted Peace and Harmony Restored... I wanted him to become Benevolent & Considerate... because by now everyone was up in arms about the Cake Fight & his Resistance! Sure... everyone that wanted one & could eat it eventually got a small piece and so Peace was Restored eventually... but Prince R's Behavior and Attitude had obviously been more of the Issue than the Cake. It was Symbolic really of a much larger Issue at hand...
You see, to us Family is Everything... and we've always been an "All for one and one for All" Unit & that's our Mantra. Maybe everyone doesn't always get along all of the time, but one thing they can always Count on is one another, Unconditional Love and knowing that The Family has their Back. We're a Circle Your Wagons Clan and we Roll Deep when it comes to Loyalty, taking Care of each other and sticking beside each other through thick and thin... Hell and high water! Division needs to be addressed, Reconciled and worked out before the Sun goes down so we got it all squared away by this Evening & everyone had made up and was on good terms again. The Cake... which Thankfully was now consumed... was History and there was no more trouble in Paradise! *Whew!*
Hopefully the Sharing and Giving will become easier and more effortless for him over Time as he Practices it? Only Time will tell. Maybe it will always be something that doesn't come so Naturally to him & he will have to Work on because it is his particular internal Struggle? And we Hope to Help him with this in Love as much as we can. I'd like for him not to become just a 'Taker' in Life and find Healthy Balance between Giving and Receiving. I know he has much Love for his Family and a Host of Endearing Qualities, Character & Strengths to draw upon. I just Pray that he doesn't allow the 'Stuff' of Life to come between him and his Important Relationships? Because the 'Stuff' isn't worth it. There will probably be another Cake... Cakes aren't really all that Special... but there will never be another Family and each Individual IS Special & so are the Relationships Cultivated with each of them... much more Special than Cake... *Winks*
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... where Thankfully there is no more Cake to Fight about *Smiles*... Dawn... The Bohemian