A few weeks ago a friend wrote historical account of King David and how his words had relevance to events of modern times. Today, I will be doing the same with King David's successor (his son), King Solomon. I must first warn you that this is NOT a biblical reference. This is a reference to a biblical figure. SO I don't want any email talking about how I'm changing the bible. If you want to read the ACTUAL account... read a bible. If you want to hear MY account... here it goes.
King Solomon was given the gift of Wisdom. He was wise beyond his years AND experience. There are other stories that tell of his wisdom and why he was considered a great King. But I want to focus on one in particular. It's the story of the 2 mothers and the baby.
King Solomon was busy doing kingly things when he was told that he needed to make a judgment call. He was told that this was a high profile case where the evidence needed to solve it was nonexistent. Not wanting to back down from a challenge, he decided to rule on the case. Plus, he was King so his words would be final. Also, figuring this was a great moment to gain some much needed exposure for his kingdom, he made sure the local media was summonsed and had a front-row seat to this interesting case.
Bailiff: All rise! Hear Ye, Hear Ye! The (currently) United State of Israel Court is now in session. The honorable Judge and King Solomon will be presiding over the case. (Queue the music: Lil Jon - Get Low. He was known for is wisdom but he was also known to get crunk every now and then!) You my now be seated.
King Solomon: Bring forth the plaintiff and the defendant.
Bailiff: I would love to, your Kingship, but I can tell which is which.
KS: What do you mean?
Bailiff: *sigh* Well, you'll see. Bring them both in.
At that point, 2 women walked into the courtroom and make their way to the Bailiff.
Bailiff: Place your hand on this stone tablet with the 10 Commandments etched into it and repeat after me. 'I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.' (The women repeat.)
KS: Great. Now will someone tell me why you are even here.
Woman 1: That woman took my baby!
Woman 2: I did NOT! You took my baby!
KS: Ladies, ladies! One at a time. Woman 1... Would you please tell your side of the story.
W1: Both of us had children at the same time. We were even friends until the other night when SHE (let the record show she is pointing at W2) rolled over and smothered her child in her sleep. I was sleeping soundly in my Sleep Number bed... my number is 20, BTW... when W2 came over and TOOK my baby. I didn't even know my baby was gone until the morning when I realized that I had woken up from the first good nights sleep that I've had since becoming a mother. Now, may I have my baby? Please!
KS: What say you W2?
W2: Well, the story she told was the truth. That is except for the fact that she took MY baby while I was sleeping on my Tempur-Pedic bed.
W1: I did NOT!!!
W2: You did too!
The two women began to fight as the gathering crowd starts chanting 'Solly! Solly! Solly!' Of course, the Bailiff breaks it up.
KS: Ladies, Ladies! I'm not going to warn you again. There will be no fighting in this courtroom! Now do either of you have any witnesses?
W1: No.
W2: No.
KS: *sarcastically* Great. OK. Where are the deadbeat baby daddies in all of this?
W1: Ummm... I think you sent them both to war.
KS: Oh! *AHEM* Uhhh...Sorry about that. Let's move on! We will solve this right now. Where is the baby?
Just then a representative from Social Services enters into the courtroom with the baby. The crowd goes 'awwwww'. Soft background music begins to play. (They have to tug on the heart strings because this is sweeps week.)
KS: Please hand the baby to W1.
Baby: WAAAA!!!!
KS: Now hand the baby to W2.
Baby: WAAAA!!!!
KS: OK... That didn't work. I thought that would make it an open and shut case. I guess not. This is going to require me to use my noodle on this one. (The Bailiff whispers in his ear that there is only about 10 minutes of TV time left so he needs to start wrapping up this case.)
King Solomon thought and thought for what seemed like an eternity on TV time. But all of a sudden his God-given talent of wisdom kicked in.
KS: Bailiff, may I borrow your sword?
The Bailiff looked confused but obliged.
KS: Bailiff, will you hold the baby?
Bailiff: Wait, sir! What are you going to do. (As he goes over and takes the baby.)
KS: Well... since I don't know which woman is telling the truth, I have to assume that they are BOTH telling the truth. In which case, this baby should be shared between them. I'm going to cut the baby in half and each woman will get a half a child.
The crowd gasps! The bailiff gets the 'EWWW' face but then shrugs it off because he realizes that this will be GREAT for ratings! Just then the women speak up.
W2: NO! My King! I know you are a wise man and your word is final. But PLEASE don't kill my baby! Just give her (let the record show she is pointing to W1) the baby. I would rather see my baby with her than chopped up for ratings.
W1: See, this woman is questioning your decision. I, for one, think you are a wise, noble and honorably King. So if you think the baby should be split between the two of us then I agree with everything you said.
KS: I will be back after this commercial break with my decision.
(commercial break)
KS: OK. I have made my decision. There will not be any cutting of the baby today. (The crowd goes 'AWWWW!') W1 agrees that I am a wise King so she thinks my decision should be accepted. W2 has already decided to give the child to W1 so there is only one thing left for me to do... (He goes over to the Bailiff and gets the baby.) I'm going to give this beautiful, wonderful... wet baby to its rightful mother... W2. W1 (in a totally ripped from Maury Povich style), you are NOT the mother! You see, there is no way the REAL mother would allow her child be killed. Even if it is sweeps week. So I feel confident that I have made the correct decision. Now, you crazy kids get out of here!
King Solomon gives his signature smile for the camera closeup and ending music plays followed by the credits. Another successful show.
Now you are probably wondering why I told that COMPLETELY accurate story. Well, after reading the story it made me understand one thing... I don't believe that King Solomon RAISED his own children. He had a few of them but this "wisdom" wouldn't have worked on a 4-year old. And it DEFINITELY wouldn't work on my 4-year old. This is the same story but only with a 4-year old:
4-year old: That toy is mine!
2-year old: Mine, daddy!
KS: Now children... You know you should always tell the truth. That's what good people do. So if you want to grow up to be a good person and make something of yourselves you need to start with honesty. Now... whose toy is this?
4YO: Mine!
2YO: Mine, daddy!
KS: Ok. Fine. We are going to have to do this the hard way! Someone bring me the handsaw. I'm going to cut this toy in half and FORCE you two to share or lose the toy. What do you think about that?
4YO: Ok. Go ahead!
2YO: Mine, daddy!
KS: You see little ones... With my infinite wisdom I have just figured out whose toy this is. This toy belongs to the 2YO. If it belonged to you, 4YO, you wouldn't have given it up to slaughter as you have. You wouldn't have allowed me to destroy something you love so much. You would be willing to give it to your sister to make sure it didn't perish. And now that I know this, you should tell the truth little one. Whose toy is this?
4YO: Well, father... It's actually MY toy but I would rather see the toy destroyed than to have to share with my little sister.
KS: CRAP! ... Where's your mother?
I don't know how it is in everyone else's house but that's the way it is in ours. This happens almost daily. Our 4YO would rather lose a toy (or anything else, for that matter) that she loves than to have to share it with her little sister. Now I'm not going to say that Solomon wasn't wise because it was well documented that he was a wise king. (That is, of course, if you don't count the whole taking of 700 wives and 300 more girlfriends. There's NOTHING wise about that. Men have a hard time keeping ONE woman happy. I would hate to see the man that is disappointing 1000 of them at the same time.)
I just wonder how wise King Solomon would have been considered if he were dealing with children.
LOL! As sad as I am to admit it, two of my four children would take the same route as your 4 yr old. They would rather see their possessions destroyed than share. I guess it's a personality thing.
ReplyDelete@SandyAnnDee - I'm amazed at this! I tell the 4YO that I'm going to put her toy away if she doesn't share and she is happy to have me put the toy away. It completely defies logic to me. Even though they both lose, she thinks she won because her sister LOST!
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! You never cease to make me laugh out loud, Toma! I love your storytelling! Very clever. And, oh so true.
ReplyDelete@Dawn - Thanks! You know better than most about this. I'm sure you have dealt with it a few times. There was a 7yr gap between our first and second child so we didn't have this problem the first time. So this is all NEW to us!
ReplyDeleteI have two (so far) who would also take this route. My Youngest Boy, though, would freak if I threatened to take his stuff.
ReplyDeleteSee, King Solomon dealt with logic. And with logical people. 4-year-olds DEFY logic. As in - Mommy, can I have the blue M&M? Sure, honey! WAAAAH! I wanted the GREEN one!! WHY DIDN'T SHE ASK FOR IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?! Seriously, our girls are made from the same mold...
@The Mommy - Yeah, your example is spot on. That's exactly what I deal with. In the end (as fathers just want quiet) I would just give up the whole bag of M&Ms! But, yes... the logic is definitely missing with the 4YO.
ReplyDeleteIt WOULD be a show worth watching if the Judge had "Get Low" as his signature song . LOL.
ReplyDelete@dark_chocolate - YEAH! OOKAAYYY!
ReplyDeleteGood thing they didn't go to Judge Judy because she would have told them to get jobs, stop making babies and stop buying beds that they can't afford before they single-handedly destroy the entire economy.
ReplyDeleteMy kids are five years apart and different sexes. I think that is a big thing. If kids are the same sex and close in age they are going to spend forever competing - you are lucky it is only toys now - think 12 years into the future. Bet you're scared just thinking about it!
@lizziehoop - Yeah, you are are right about Judge Judy. I would be in contempt of court every time I was standing in front of her. I think you are right about the age difference and the gender difference thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record... I would like to thank you for increasing the frequency of my therapy sessions with your last sentence. That's not EVEN funny!
That's kids for you! My oldest still does not like to share (she's 20). She grudgingly share a room with her 18 yr old sister. Thats a better choice than the 14, 5 or 1 yr old for a roommate.
ReplyDelete@mommeeof10 - That doesn't give me much hope for a quick "growing out of it" solution. But then again, if your names means you have 10 kids I'm sure the dynamic in your home is different than most. WOW!!! 10???
ReplyDeleteYou crack me up. I guess none of us are any King Soloman.
ReplyDelete@WeaselMomma - Thanks! I can guarantee I'm not King Solomon. I'm not even Court Jester Solomon.
ReplyDeleteOh, Que, you are so right. I just taught this lesson to my four and five year old Sunday School class yesterday, and then we went to play time immediately after the lesson.
ReplyDeleteOne girl had brought her doll from home to church with her, and another girl took it. When the argument got loud enough for me to intervene, I gathered the class around and asked them, "What do you think we should do?" (Remember, I had just emphasized the importance of asking God for wisdom when you are faced with difficult decisions.)
All eight kids, including the doll's owner, yelled in unison: "CUT IT IN HALF!" They were so sure they had chosen the right answer. I pity the parents that I sent those kids home to.
I'm going to be getting some nasty emails this week, I'm sure!
@Missy - That is great! It's just one more reason to believe that there should have been stories in the bible of these important figures and how they handled (what I consider) the impossible. I would LOVE to have seen Mr. King Solomon dealing with MY 2 and 4YO. Then I would send him to you so he can exercise his wisdom on a whole CLASS of them. Thanks for the story. I can just see that happening. :)
ReplyDeletelol... I think I like your version better
ReplyDelete@SY - Thanks! I just wanted to add that modern flair to it. I hope I don't get in trouble. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, we have 10 children. We have 5 girls, ages 20, 18, 14, 5, and 18 mo and 5 boys, ages 16, 12, 10, almost 8 and 4. It's never boring at my house and rarely quiet. :)
ReplyDeleteMy 3 middle boys usually fight over who's turn it is now on the computers and which pc they want to use next. I feel like changing the time restrictions on their accounts to only allow log ins at certain times on a specific machine. I bet I could figure it out, with enough spare time on my hands...
Hilarious! I laughed until I cried because it is so true. Raising 4 kids isn't bringing me wisdom, I'm losing my mind.
ReplyDelete@mommeeof10 - 10 kids. I love my kids but we are done at 3. As a matter of fact, if I didn't love our last one I would have put her back. With my wife's permission, of course. :)
ReplyDelete@lawnajo - Thanks! I'm am absolutely sure that is the case here. My wife and I aren't getting any wiser, we are losing the wise battle as well. I wonder at what point do we start getting wiser again.
This cracked me up. It is a complete replica of my sister and me when we were that age. It's amazing (and amazingly hilarious) how vicious siblings can be, especially girls. I am not jealous of you at all! And now I feel bad for what we did to my parents...
ReplyDelete