Compassion, Baby Style

Yesterday, I got to witness my little M&M developing compassion.

After having a jar of bubble gum taken away from him, Bud-Jack broke into tears next to M&M. M&M stood and stared at him with a concerned and confused look on her face. Then she hugged him around the waist. When he continued to cry, she tried holding his hand. When that didn't work, she picked her doll off the ground and tried twice to hand it to him. Finally, she decided it would be best to just stand next to him and wait for the tears to pass.

Would that we were all as good at showing compassion as a little one-year-old.

The "Beauty" of Boyhood

Picture, if you will, a little boy of almost three. On his bare feet he has a small pair of mud-caked snow boots. His baggy jeans have mud all over the seat. He is wearing a long-sleeved camoflauged shirt. Surrounding his wide gap-toothed smile is chocolate icing that he snuck from the cabinet when his mommy had her back turned. His nose is both runny and crusty all at the same time, and his matted hair is topped with his older brother's big blue and red bike helmet.

Beauty.

The Ups and Downs of Having Littles

G has almost memorized all of Luke 2:1-20. We move next to Matthew 28 -- the story of the resurrection. His brand new bottom tooth is coming through already -- a nice big one that he is quite proud of. He has become quite the demolition man, and consequently has had his room cleared of almost everything. . . including the tools that Santa, ahem, brought him for Christmas. He also recently got the inside of his snow boots wet, but insists on wearing them for some reason unknown to me. His one solution to the problem, shoving colored tissue paper into the boots before putting them on, turned his socks a variety of pretty colors. We now refer to the coveted socks as "The Rainbow Socks."

Teeny got a few new shirts recently and has loved every minute of wearing them. She too has become a bit obsessed with her snow boots. Not sure what that is all about. She had a rough day on Friday. First, during a game of hide-and-seek, she climbed half way up a very tall pine tree and couldn't figure out how to get down. Then her younger brother pushed a piece of wood over on her and cut her head. She topped it off by biting her tongue. Yet she didn't once scream as loud as she does when G makes a funny noise that annoys her.

Bud-Jack is as cute as can be. He is a big Indiana Jones fan and most often tries to get himself out of trouble by saying cute things like, "Nope. Me Jone. Dis me whip.", "Dis me gun. Han up. Pakew, pakew.", or singing the Indiana Jones theme song while running around in circles. Such cuteness even softened J's heart the other day when Little "Doc Jone" took his "whip" (a belt) and whipped our flat-screen TV, cracking the screen and ruining the picture.

M&M has become even more personable in the last few days. She has taken to talking very aggressively and excitedly if you will talk back. She has also developed a very hearty laugh that takes her daddy by surprise sometimes. And there is also her cute little sideways glances that melt our hearts too. I really need to get some new pics of her because no description can do her justice. And this I remember when she wakes up early in the morning, just before sunrise, and decides she is going to have a hard time going back to sleep.

Kids are a handful. They try my patience like nothing else in the world. But God made 'em cute for that very reason. No matter how much sleep they cost me or how many TVs they break, I'll never stop loving their little unique selves; and I know I'll miss these days like crazy when they grow up.

Saying Goodbye

You know how people often bring up the idea that you should always say goodbye in such a way that if something happened to either party and someone passed away, the person left behind would feel good about how they parted ways? Well, I have a daily reminder of this principle. There is much ado every time someone leaves this house. Multiple goodbyes, hugs, kisses, waves galore. . .

J just left for work. He received hugs and kisses from all who were awake. There are days when the kids insist on giving him two sets of hugs and kisses. Those unfortunate beings who are not awake when daddy leaves for work tend to be a bit upset upon waking and realizing that they missed saying goodbye. Amongst the hugs and kisses there is a constant stream of "goodbyes" that follow J all the way to the car. . . and continue with a flourish of waving hands until his car is out of sight.

And it isn't just daddy who gets these great goodbyes. Teeny and G make it a point to say goodbye to eachother every time one or the other of them goes somewhere. They will bound through the house saying, "I've got to say goodbye to. . ." before they can settle down to playing again.

And, if you leave without a goodbye. . . I ran to the convenience store for hot dogs yesterday; and, as it was going to take me a mere five minutes, I didn't bother saying goodbye. As I backed out of the drive way Teeny and G came running out with very confused faces and unsure hand-waves. It was sort of comical. Especially since G had something stuffed in his shirt and was pretending to be pregnant. But that has nothing to do with goodbyes. . .

At any rate, you can always count on children to keep you straight. I often take for granted that I'll see people again, and I rarely give anyone the goodbye that I would if I knew I'd never see them again. My children, on the other hand, will never have to regret a half-hearted goodbye.