Our son, Nolan, is rapidly growing both physically and cognitively. He’s nearly 10 months old, crawling everywhere, getting into everything and surprising us daily with new motions, sounds and actions. For instance, when Tollie raises her outstretched palm, Nolan has learned to give her a high-five. Does he understand exactly what this means? Probably not, but it’s still cute.

We recently recognized that Nolan had outgrown most of his toys. So this past Saturday evening, Tollie and I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a toy basketball hoop designed to develop infant motor skills. When a child slams the mini-basketball through the plastic hoop, the crowd roars. I figure the $25 investment will be well worth it when Nolan grows up to make $25 million per year as an NBA point guard.

Nolan’s Grandma and Grandpa were with us, and they pitched in and bought him a singing mailbox that is supposed to help teach kids the alphabet and the numbers one through 10. My mom noted this was appropriate since both she and my grandmother – Nolan’s great-grandma – both work for the United States Postal Service. And frankly, with my genes, Nolan is a lot more likely to grow up to be a mail-carrier than an NBA point guard.

So it’s Sunday night, and I’m sitting on the couch, typing on my laptop, trying to write a Youth Convention recap article for the Illinois District News. Nolan is sitting on the floor, surrounded by $50 worth of brand new toys that feature bright colors, sounds and songs.

But does he want to play with any of this stuff? No way! He wants to poke at the keys on my laptop, or pull at my briefcase. I can just see the lid crashing down, smashing his fingers. Then he’s chewing on the plastic case that contains items such as his fingernail clippers and infant Tylenol. I watch him out of the corner of my eye to make sure he doesn’t succeed in tearing it open.

Isn’t it funny how kids often don’t appreciate the good gifts we give them? Instead, they’re more interested in frivolous things such as the wrapping paper that once covered the item. Or they want to play with things that have the potential to cause great harm. Nolan never met an electrical cord he didn’t like.

Too bad we never seem to completely outgrow this tendency. Our Heavenly Father provides good gifts to help us grow; often, we’re more interested in things that have the potential to hurt us.

Thankfully, that same Father keeps watch over us, often saving us from self-inflicted pain, gently guiding us back where we need to be.