Practising now to be married

My six year old has a bit of a social problem. He simply cannot let go of his grudges and gets over-angry with his friends who dare boss him, poke him or annoy him in any way. He explodes quickly and then can't or won't forgive.

It's becoming a problem in the classroom when the teacher goes to pair up children to work together. Max simply won't work with anyone because of previous arguments.

He thinks a lot about getting married, this little boy, and is often planning his future. The other day he asked me, "Mum, who am I going to marry?"

"Oh, it could be anyone," I said. "If she loves you and you love her, you can get married. BUT, the thing you'll have to know is that the person you marry won't be perfect. She'll probably annoy you sometimes, like your friends at school annoy you. But you're not perfect either and you might annoy her."

"Oh," he said, not too sure what to think about that.

"But you'll have arguments and then you'll forgive each other and you'll sort it out," I said. "Just like Dad and I have fights and then forgive each other and sort it out."

He smiled. Yes, he knows we fight reasonably often.

"But you know," I said. "You can practice forgiving your friends now when they annoy you so that when you get married it will be easier."

I could see a little light go off in his head. "That sounds good," he said.

And today he told me, "Yesterday, R annoyed me at school. She poked me. But I decided to forgive her." 

I guess you can practice forgiveness even at the age of 6!