Empathy

There are days when I wonder what is going through the boy's head. Like when he yells at me, or hits out at things, and then claims he doesn't know why I'm upset. It's nothing unusual, really just the behaviour of a 3 (almost 4) year old stubborn, independent wilful little boy. But this past week he completely surprised me.

I threw my back out on the weekend, and the boy has been nothing short of lovely. He's 'helped' me walk, he's volunteered to do chores for me, he's used his doctors kit to find out what was wrong, and he's been willing to mostly play in one spot so that I can move slowly to keep an eye on him. All of this was made easier by having his Nana (my fantastic MIL) come over and help out for a few days. This meant he still had someone to pay loads of attention to him during the day. He has been mostly on his best behaviour and it's amazing.

The best example of his caring though came last night. Hubby had put the boy to bed, and the boy had asked me to come in for one last kiss. I managed that, but then he wanted me to stay for a cuddle in his bed. Normally I would say yes, but I had to explain to the boy that there was no way I could manage it right now. He got very quiet and very still. I asked him if hew was o.k., and he replied in a sad little voice, "I'm o.k. Mummy, I'm just sad that your back hurts and I want you to feel better. I don't like it when you're sick."

The empathy and the sweetness were overwhelming. If only I could bottle that up for our not so good days.