My heart is full with this post. I had an emotionally challenging evening with Ayden, and not for the reason you may think. We both grew last night. Here's the story:
Yesterday, there was a Ballroom Dancing assembly at Ayden's school. Exciting, right? Ayden was pretty impressed with the blond boy dancer, he wants me to dye his hair blond today. At some point during this assembly, a fellow kindergartner got sick and threw up. Ayden was close enough to this boy to witness the whole thing. He relayed the event to me when I picked him up from a birthday party that afternoon.
During dinner time last night, Ayden was not his usual self (annoying his sister, talkative, or pretending to eat). He pretty much sat there, looking morose. I had the feeling that he was getting sick. I told him he didn't have to eat if he didn't feel like it, so he went up to his room. I followed and insisted on him talking to me. I asked him all the usual questions, "does your tummy hurt?" "Do you feel like your sick?" "Are you tired?" I got a round of NO's as response. So, I ventured further asking him about the boy getting sick. At that moment, his whole body collapsed into tears. "Mom, I liked him, he had cool shoes, I wanted to be his friend!" He gave me the impression that he believed the boy would no longer be at school. He was so upset, his whole body was rocking with his sobs. I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say, so I did the best I could. I explained sickness to Ayden and how it happens no matter where you are and people always get better. I told him this boy would most likely be at school again on Monday. Then he could tell him that he liked his shoes! He was taking it in little bits at a time and slowly calming down. But, it wasn't enough.
So, we prayed. Jade joined us and hugged her brother while I asked God to help his friend get better and help Ayden understand. We also thanked God for the wonderful things Ayden had experienced that day. It did the trick, by the time we said "Amen" he was totally and completely calm. My heart was filled with so much love that I started crying (totally confusing the kids).
Ayden's heart is huge. And it's size makes it so much easier for him to be hurt. I want to build a wall around that heart and keep it safe. I pray that the love and compassion he has now for people continues to grow, despite the terrible things he will endure as he has more and more life experiences.
Big things await this boy, but for now, he is helping his mom in more ways than he will ever know.
3 comments:
That is the most incredible story. I love you and your sweet children so much. I had a similar experience this morning.
We adopted a dog on Thursday (that's a whole other story) and this morning Peyton and Ash, Kimber(the dog) and I were watching TV and thinking about waking up.
The ASPCA commecial came on, you know the one that features Sarah McLachlan and slides of all the sad animals that the ASPCA helps? Peyton was enthralled, and his eyes got puffy, and he was just glued to the commercial, and tears started flowing from his eyes and he just started to sob.
At that moment, he looked tearfully at me and said, We saved Kimber.
It was the sweetest thing ever. Of course I started to bawl, because I was moved by the fact that he had been so moved.
Aren't these children just incredible?
You have a sweet, sweet boy. Your post made me cry.
Thanks for sharing. It is amazing how much they understand and feel being so little. Ayden has always been so mindful of others, he is such a wonderful kid. I am so grateful for prayer and how much it helps me to mother my kids, so often I don't have the answers and somehow that simple act solves so many problems.
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