All parents know that there are so many funny, sweet, and dopey things children say. You just wish you had the sense to write them down at the time. Years later, I still try to recall who said what at which time that had me in stitiches. Like the time when I was expecting Ben. Katie was four years old. We would tell her from time to time what was developing on the baby inside Mommy. One day out of the blue she asks "Is the blanket there,yet?" I guess she was picturing the idyllic hospital scene where the nurse presents Mom with a pink-faced, smiling baby wrapped in a soft blanket. I didn't have the heart to shatter that fantasy by giving her the blood and gore details of the whole experience. Ah, the innocence of youth!
Here is an exchange I had with Thomas this past week which had me close to tears. He had lost a game cartridge for his DS. We had searched high and low for several days. Early Tuesday morning he comes into the kitchen with the game in hand. "I am so stupid!" he says.
"You are not stupid, Thomas," I replied in the way most mothers would when they here a child belittle themself this way. "Why would you say that?"
"The game was right on Ben's desk. I must have already looked there a hundred times. I can't believe I missed it!"
"Did you ever think that maybe Ben found the game and put it there for you?"
Thomas thinks for a moment and then says "I think Ben must be the best brother in the world. They don't come any better than Ben!" After a few more seconds of thinking, he continued. "I doubt Ben would say the same thing about me. I ask too many questions when he is busy."
I get this big lump in my throat. I know with the 7 1/2 year gap in their ages, that sometimes the big brother/little brother dynamic is intense. At sixteen, Ben is not always the most patient big brother. And at eight, Thomas can be, well, let's just say the proverbial " little brother" and all that implies!
"Don't worry, Thomas," I reassure him. "Someday Ben is going to realize what a great brother he has in you!"
Big hugs for Thomas and he is off to the Battle of the Pokemon!
My prayer today is for all siblings to have a heart of gratitude for each other. Seventeen years ago, we heard Fr. Benedict Groeschel speak at Fordham University and one thing he said has stayed with me since then. "Parents, the greatest gift you can give a child is a sibling. Have children!"
About ten months later, Ben was born. May he come to realize the gift he is to his siblings, and the gifts he has been given in his brother and sisters.
Here they are last summer on a guys camping trip.
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Posted by: nancy | June 23, 2009 at 05:07 PM