Simplicity

I love this kid so much. For those of you that have read my blog at all, you know that I struggle with this one at times. Well, I struggle with all of my kiddos at times, but I have been frustrated because I haven't known how to help him for much of his life. He was my colicky baby, my over-active toddler, and my boy that never stops moving. I get exhausted. Plus, he's my first. Let's be honest: They get the Rookie Parent Mistakes their entire lives.

Austin likes to take his Pokemon cards to school to trade during recess. I don't understand this phenomenon at all, but he is fascinated by the cards and trading them and getting ones with different powers and all the different morphing, etc. I remember, way back in college, we learned that collections are a major part of childhood development. For boys, it's generally cards of some type. Since he uses his money for all cards, I figure he is learning all of those pertinent lessons for his age through the guise of Pokemon.

When I picked him up at school today, he was talking to a boy that I didn't recognize. Austin ran to the car and asked if he could "run really quick" and "be right back." He grabbed some cards, and ran to find this boy. He was across the street. When he found him, Austin gave him some of his cards and ran back to the car. What he didn't see was the look on that boy's face as he turned to his sister. His face completely lit up in excitement as he showed his older sister and said, "My very first Pokemon card!"

I'm not going to lie: I sat in the car with tears streaming down my face. I think I tend to focus WAY too much on all the times that my kids behave in a way contrary to what we are trying to teach that I don't recognize these types of moments enough. It wasn't a great service project or a huge sacrifice, but it was just a simple act of kindness. It touched my heart to see one of my children thinking outside of himself. In essence, Austin made the day for two people today, and I don't even think he realizes it.