Idea, Plan, or Promise?

Funny how specific you sometimes need to be to help your children stay calm and secure. In our house a couple of years ago, I developed an explanation for my kids to help them understand upcoming events. Y’know when you decide to stop at McDonald’s on the way home, but seeing the long line at the drive-through, you decide to opt for Taco Bell instead? Oh My! “But you promised we could go to McDonald’s!!” comes the whining chorus from the backseat. Or worse, have you ever thought out loud, “Maybe we’ll go to the zoo later this week if the weather’s nice…” Well, you get the idea.

So one day, I called the gang together and explained the guidelines. First we have an idea. An idea means that we’re thinking about doing something. There’s a good chance that we won’t actually do it, it’s just a thought. For example, ”Wouldn’t it be fun to buy chickens!” Then there’s a plan. A plan is when we make a decision to do something and then develop a strategy to carry it out. We might buy tickets, pack a suitcase, or build a henhouse. Plans can change. If we plan to go to the zoo next Tuesday and the weather is bad or the car breaks down, then we say, “It’s okay, we can deal with it,” and we’ll make the plan move to another day. Then there’s a promise. That’s serious. I hardly ever call something a promise. “I promise that I’ll love you as long as I live and nothing you can do will change that.” Or “I promise that if you hit your sister today, you will not have sweets.” It really has helped my kids to understand what I say. Often if we decide to go somewhere, one of them will chime in, “Is that an idea or a plan?”