Wednesday, October 26, 2011

As Long as One and One is Two

Today on the playground, I noticed Abe standing at the bottom of a slide screaming up at some bigger boys at the top. I called him over to me. He trudged my way with shoulders down, Charlie-Brown-style. He said they'd been making fun of him for sucking his thumb.

So it begins.

I guess I sort of liked that his response was to yell back at them, despite their being older than him, bigger than him, and at the top of the slide with him at the bottom. I also admit to liking that he let me pick him up and walk with him out of sight of the big boys while he rested his face against my face with his thumb back in his mouth. I told him about how this is one of the reasons we've been telling him that he should reserve the thumb for the bed. As I'm telling him this, he looks at me sort of googly-eyed, leans forward and kisses my nose.

Substitute "father" for "mother" and "daughter" for "son," and you've got my feelings for my son. Sometimes, it's a literal ache in my chest, my love for this boy.

4 comments:

Two Little Birds said...

I just have to introduce myself. I really enjoy your blog - maybe it is because I have a son, hoping to adopt an older child, and we recently moved down from PDX. Anyhow, this post melted my heart. I have moments like this with my son, and I agree - my love for him hurts at times.

jen said...

I know just how you feel. We are the luckiest, aren't we? xo

Rebecca said...

I totally get it. I sometimes look at Eli and feel like bursting into tears. And I think "it's not fair that I'm so lucky!" I know you feel the same.

Eli gets made fun of for his size sometimes. I overheard someone tell him once "you are so little!" to which he responded "So! It doesn't matter!" Praise the Lord for our little boys who stand up for themselves. And I always hope that if Eli is nothing else, that he will show kindness to everyone.

Claudia said...

What a boy.