Brown Eyes by: Lisa Reid

Today was a calm, beautiful day and my 5-year-old son was still in bed. Oh, but when he gets up, the day will be on. As I started my day I knew it was going to be on with my son Shane. This five-year-old had a will like no other. He challenges me more than any job. It started with breakfast. “Shane, eat your oatmeal, it will make you grow up to be strong like your daddy.” “No, I don’t like oatmeal.” So here it starts, the disobedience, the testing of who will back down first. Him looking at me with those big brown eyes. I am determined I am not going to give in to his disobedience.

Shane sat quietly at the table staring at the oatmeal. “Shane, how long are you going to sit at that table?” He just looked at me with a blank stare. One hour went by and I was getting frustrated. “Shane go to your room,” I said to him. He got up and went to his room. After an hour, I went to his room and what I saw shocked me. Toys everywhere. You couldn’t see any floor. “Shane, you are to pick up this room or you cannot come out.” He just stared at me with those big brown eyes. His puppy dog eyes were not going to get to me this time. His will was going against mine but I was determined he was going to obey. One hour went by, then two, and then I heard,” Mom, I did it. My room clean. Can I come out now?” I thought finally I broke his will. I won. We may have a great day after all.

Here I go down the hall to see his big accomplishment. I opened the door and there it was; a beautiful clean room. “Shane you are such a good boy,” I said. He just smiled and said,” Can I go play now?” “Yes, Shane but stay where I can see you.”Shane went outside. As I was cleaning, I reflected on the events that happened during the day. Was I too hard on Shane about the food? Sending him to his room for two hours? But the outcome; he did clean his room. This was a great improvement. Now if I can get him to eat properly. If we do not discipline our children, they may grow up not to reference God and obey his word. It is up to parents to teach them the moral codes and to learn to have respect for authority.I continued with cleaning. I started folding clothes and putting them up. I went to put the clothes up and when I opened the closet; no toys. I looked around and what did I see? Toys stuffed under the bed. I shouted outside,” Shane, come back in this house.” He came in, and back to his room he went. By this time, I was frustrated. Is he going to beat me down? No, he is not. He may be stubborn as a bull but I am going to bring him up to be an adult fit for society.Shane was now 14 years old. I had to work at night, so he stayed at my mother’s house. I had left my car there, so he and his buddies decided to go joyriding. I kept wondering every day why my gas was so low. Then while I was at work, one of my friends approached me and said, “I saw your son driving around town.” I thought, no that cannot be true. Would Shane really do something that bad? But it was true. When I got home I asked him about the situation. He stared at me with those big brown eyes. He looked me in the face and said,” Mom, I do not know what you are talking about!”You are grounded for a month! He just looked at me and I walked away and thought, “How can I punish myself like this.?As Shane grew older, he did not give me as much trouble. He was 16. I sold him my car and we moved away to a new town. He found out later he was not as popular as he was in Mableton. In fact, kids were picking on him. He was in advanced classes so they called him a nerd. Public school really went too slow for him. He came home one day and asked me if he could go to a Christian school. I told him I could not afford to pay for a private school. He looked at me and said, Mom, I am working and I will pay.”At that moment, I felt a warm feeling for the first time. This was one proud mom. I knew that he was growing up and taking responsibility for himself. He worked every day and paid for his schooling, his clothes, and food. Then one day he met Brandy, a girl who had been in a lot of trouble. She had just come from a girl’s home and was put in that private school. I tried to discourage him from dating her but he was consumed. Here we go again, butting heads like a bull. He was heading for disaster. He was also about to become a man. Then one day, he comes home with a solemn look on his face. Somehow he just did not have those beautiful eyes glaring. They were more in pain. He said,” Mom, Brandy is pregnant. My heart dropped. Shane told me he was going to marry her. I was not happy but proud he was taking responsibility for his actions. Six months later she had a baby boy. He was so handsome. As the years went by they had two more children. I could be no prouder of my boy than I am now.

As his boy got older, the whole story starts over. Shane came to me and said,” This boy is stubborn. I do not know what to do.” I turned and just laughed. I said I am proud of the man you have become and if you discipline him in the right way; he will become the man you want him to be.”