It was Saturday morning in South Dakota at the Black Hills Crusade. After devotions, we had time for a quick drive up to Mount Rushmore. We were going to see the “mountain with faces,” as we explained to Stella. Now at two and a half years old, this didn’t sound fun, it sounded scary!

When we arrived, she flatly refused to get unbuckled from her car seat. “NO,” she wailed resolutely, “I don’t want to go!”

On our trip to Israel last year, Stella traveled with us to Caesarea, the Mount of Olives, the beautiful Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem. You know what captured her interest? Rocks. “Baby rocks,” she called them. She couldn’t get enough of them. She would collect little pebbles and chips of rock and hold them in her tiny hand. It never failed to amuse and entertain her.

So, what do you do with a toddler that refuses to budge? My advice is to try diversion. “Baby rocks, Stella, let’s go find some baby rocks!” we would say excitedly. You know what? It worked!

It brings to mind the old Mother Goose rhyme, “Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been?” In the story, the pussycat could have had the privilege of a lifetime, along with the bragging rights of a trip to London and a visit with the Queen. Instead, that silly cat was more amused by frightening a little mouse.

So that Saturday morning, we went to Mount Rushmore, one of the most breathtaking and uniquely American tourist attractions in the United States. Rather than looking at the “Scary Mountain with Faces,” we were looking down at the “baby rocks.”

Mt. Rushmore