Impulsive

Jack is an impulsive little guy.

It makes him spontaneous and fun, and refreshingly unpredictable.

It causes him to suddenly run up to you and give you a squeeze and a kiss, and then return to whatever he was doing.  Just because you happened to cross his thoughts and made him happy.

He will tell stories on the fly using whatever pops into his head – regardless of their connection to reality.  Stories about the time when he was a baby and worked as a mechanic, and then went to jail with a zebra and then ate pancakes on his motorcycle...

Sometimes his impulses are just a little too impulsive however.  Like today when we were at the grocery store, and Jack saw this bag of english muffins sitting at eye level.  He walked right up to it, and took a bite!  “Mom, I took a bite!” he announced.

Now, as much as I love Jack’s spontaneous nature, I do feel that their should be some limits to his impulsiveness.  Randomly biting food in the grocery store, being one of them.

I sadly explained that the quarter he was going to use to buy a gumball now needed to be used to pay for the english muffins.  (I felt terrible for him because he had behaved sooooo well at REI while I made him try on pants and shoes -things he hates to do, and we were almost finished at the grocery store.)  He cried on and off through the store and check-out line, alternately getting hugs from me and Owen saying, “I really wanted that gum ball.” 

But I keep telling myself that a gumball is a small consequence to pay in the scheme of life.  And I would rather he pay for a mistake with a gumball now, than pay with something much bigger later in life.