“Maybe they should have a tea party,” Maizy says to her little sister, Lila.

“I just want to brush their hair,” Lila says as she runs her own hair brush through the small doll’s straight hair.

“They need to do SOMETHING though, don’t they?” asked Maizy.

“Ouch!” screams Sparrow with a tiny upside-down plastic table dangling from his bare foot.

“My new table!” Lila screamed back at Sparrow, “watch where you’re going!”

Sparrow falls on the couch and pulls the pink, and now slightly red, table legs from his foot.  His face turns redder than the specks of blood on the tiny table legs as he wells up with anger. Sparrow throws the table at Lila with a little too much force shouting, “pick up your stinking baby toys!”

“Look who’s the baby,” Maizy retorts, “you look like you’re about to cry!”

“You’re the worst brother in the history of brothers,” Lila adds.

“Woah, woah, woah, guys! What is going on in here?!” Mom asks, walking into her living room turned warzone. The three siblings start talking at the same time, pointing fingers at one another. “Ok, let’s everyone go to their own room to cool off and we’ll talk about this when everyone has cooler heads.”

A few minutes pass and Mom calls everyone back into the living room. Sparrow enters last.  His foot is bandaged and he’s walking with a limp. Maizy and Lila roll their eyes hard enough to earn a stern look from their mother. 

“Do you need me to get you the crutches from the garage, Sparrow?” Maizy asks.

“That’s enough,” Mom jumps in before another argument can begin. “Sit down, Sparrow, and everyone needs to listen up. Your behavior earlier was not how we conduct ourselves in this house and you all know it. Now one at a time, tell me what happened…calmly, and without anyone interrupting the one speaking.”

After Mom gets the facts, she asks them for examples of how that could have gone better. Sparrow says that he could have counted to ten before chucking the table at his sister out of anger and being unkind. His younger sisters admit they could have played in their room instead of spreading out in the living room. They all agree that tiny plastic objects with sharp points should be mindfully kept with the sharp bits pointed down.

Mom explains that harsh words, when spoken, stir up strife and hurt others, rather than help situations. She also tells them that anger, when not managed in a healthy manner, can cause them to sin. Mom asks the siblings if there’s anything else they would like to say to each other. Being the oldest, Sparrow begins the round of sincere apologies that ends with the youngest, Lila. Mom then suggests they should do something nice for each other to make up for the harsh words spoken earlier. Sparrow begins picking up the doll toys as Maizy rushes to the garage for the crutches. She returns and hands them to Sparrow. Everyone laughs as the day returns to normal.

Weekly Bible Verse: An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins. -‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭22‬ NIV

Note to Nibble: When tempers are hot, take time to cool down in order to avoid sinning.