So in my last post I talked about how sweet my little boy is... Well, today I am nearly speechless. His sweetness factor just went up tenfold. I have never been so proud of him as I am right now. And if he continues in the same direction, he will probably get his heart smashed into a million pieces in high school then finally make some pretty girl an extremely lucky wife. I am not kidding. I am in awe of his ability to think of others.
I always thought that little kids were self-centered and only feign interest in others because that is what they are taught to do. Like when I made him apologize to his sister for throwing my shoe at her... I doubt he was really sorry, but I want him to be well-mannered (even when he acts like a heathen) and to understand that it is not okay to hurt others. I thought that the empathy trait would develop much later in life, though.
Apparently not so. This morning Eli was acting quite determined and stubborn. He got up at 5:00 a.m. and was hell-bent on going to the mailbox by himself. He just HAD to mail yet another letter to Santa. He said that this letter was very, VERY important. He even made his dad put a Christmas stamp on it.
There I was in bed feeling annoyed because he got me up so early. I laid there thinking, "Great! He needs something else??? Like the 500 other things he listed in his last letter aren't enough?? How in the world do we pay for this? We've already spent 50 gazillion dollars on Christmas. He already has EVERYTHING available for purchase on toysrus.com. Now what?" Needless to say, I was not being a sweet, affectionate, oh-how-cute mom.
After some stern reprimands, my husband finally relented. He addressed the letter to Santa (aka Daddy at Daddy's work). He got himself dressed then got Eli dressed and headed to the mailbox with that very important letter. By this time, I'd gotten up and into the shower. When I got out of the shower, my irritability turned to curiosity. I had to know what was so important. So when he came back from the mailbox with his dad, I asked him what was the important item added to his list.
I nearly cried when he answered. My sweet little boy asked for the most thoughtful gift I could ever imagine. He said that he wrote Santa and asked him if he would go to heaven and pick up his grandma then leave her at our house on Christmas Eve. I gave him the biggest hug ever after that.
As you know, my mom passed away over the summer. This is our first Christmas without her. While my son did not get to spend much time with her, he has fond memories of her. He still thinks about her and talks about her often. It makes me sad that he never got to know her like I knew her as she was sick his entire life. It makes me even sadder that his time with her was so limited. If only Santa could grant him that wish... Unfortunately, I think he might be a little disappointed.
6 years ago
