The compassionate child

Tonight I was checking my e-mail in the office, while Scott and the boys were reading a few books in the living room. All of a sudden, I heard Evan burst into tears, sobbing. Scott rushed him to the kitchen sink since he was threatening to vomit and between sobs I heard. "I (sob) want (sob) my (sob) Mommy (sob, sob, sob)! Scott handed him over and he just crumbled into my arms crying. I calmed him down enough to make sure he was not going to throw up and carried him over to the couch to cuddle. While walking through the kitchen he was clearly trying to make himself feel better. He would gather all of the cheer he could without crying and say "Look, a plant!" (sob, sob, shudder) "Look the Fan! (shudder, sob, sob) Oh my god he was so pathetically sweet and adorable. He just kept trying to stop the tidal wave of tears.

We finally made it to the couch, his little tear filled eyes looked up at me and he said, "I ne-ee-d my Ringos" As I looked up to find them Ryan was already walking toward us with one Ringo in hand. I asked him if he could find the other two, and he quickly returned with them in hand. He looked at Evan and said "Don't cry Evan, its okay." and then to me "Mommy, why is Evan sad?" "Read Mommy" "Evan, do you want to read?" "Here's a book, Read Mommy, Read"

It took a couple of books and a lot of cuddling, and Evan finally stopped crying. We still don't know what set him off, other than he didn't nap well today, we had a tough dinner, so he might have been a little overly sensitive, overly tired. My poor baby. My little sweetness. I've never seen him like that before, just a pile of sadness. He's cried out of fear, or pain, or crankiness, but not like this, this was just sadness. It broke my heart. I hope I was able to make him a little happier with a little Mommy love. I can't stand to see my love cry like that. I know there will be many more times in his life when he is sad and crying, and I wont always be able to make him feel better with a book, a ringo and a hug.

What really struck me was the compassion shown by Ryan. I could hear him while I was in the kitchen asking why Evan was crying. "why, Daddy? Why is Evan crying?" The simple act of finding Ringo, without being asked, and bringing it to his brother. Just knowing, at this tender age, what to do to make his brother feel better. So, So, SWEET. So compassionate. Makes my heart swell with pride, my eyes fill with tears, my love deepen (if that is possible).

These boys.