A Yom Kippur Lesson from my Toddler

(Other bloggers are much, much better at taking everyday activities and deriving spiritual lessons, so please excuse my first attempt).

Recently, we had to discipline our toddler. The event that called for serious discipline couldn't have come at a worse time. After loading the dishwasher and tidying up, I was steps from the door, headed to a much awaited pre-Yom Kippur shiur. But, often, we parents have to put our own plans aside for the good of our children. And, this was one of those moments. Sadly, the pre-Yom Kippur shiur will have to wait until next year.

After the regular routine of walking our son back into his room each time he left it, he finally calmed down. My husband went into his room to give follow-up the discipline and told him that he needed to apologize to Mommy before he could continue with the regular bedtime routine.

At first he whispered "I'm" and stopped short. We snuggled him, held his hand, and gave him small kisses as we encouraged him to speak a little louder. But, he just couldn't, even though we could see how much he wanted to. Finally, after a short time, I fed the words one by one into his mouth and he softly whispered them back, averting his eyes much of the time.

To me, asking for mechila is a similar exercise. The desire is there, the incentive is there, but the words just will not leave the mouth, even when you know that the person from whom you are asking will only return your request with love.

On that note: please forgive me for any unkind words. And, to my very best friends who read my blog and know the personality behind the name. I love you very much and hope you will grant me mechila.

May everyone have an easy fast and may we all be sealed in the book of life.