Sometimes, as parents, we avoid telling our young children the truth. We don't explain things the way we should or don't show how we really feel simply because we think they are incapable of comprehending. But the fact is, they do feel...they do understand...and so much more than we give them credit for.
While having dinner last night, I overheard this conversation between my daughter and youngest son.
Missy: "If you had one wish, what would it be?"
Matthew: "I'll wish Mama's mom back."
Missy: "Why?"
Matthew: "Because that would make Mama happy."
How sensitive is my son to my feelings. Oftentimes, I even think that, at his tender age of 8, he knows me even deeper than most people do. I thanked him for what he wished for but quickly added that I did not desire for his Lola to come back. If she does, I told him, she'd only get sick again and I do not want that. She is much better off staying in heaven...
Mom and Matthew in 2005
What a sweet and selfless thing to wish for! Most 8 year old boys would wish for the latest video game or the like! Your son has a beautiful heart :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a compassionate little boy your son.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest son (12) once had a sort-of similar conversation with me when he was 8-9 years old. It's not that it's similar in wishing for me really, but the sentiment of thought is the same. Tear-inducing for sure. We were in the car and he asked if I thought I was going to heaven when I died. I said "yes." He thought for a moment on that answer. He got teary-eyed. I asked if he was alright. He looked at me through the rear view mirror and said "I want to go with you!" I didn't know what to say - how does a parent respond to that without scaring them further? He suddenly burst out with "Well, when you do go to heaven I'm going to hold onto your foot so I can go "up" with you."
I literally wept. I can only imagine what his thoughts were on the subject of heaven and a body levitating up towards the sky. But it didn't matter to him. He was going to hold onto my foot like a boy with a balloon string and go along for the ride. It made me feel so good (in a weird way) that my 8 year old child thought that deeply about dying and of me.
Now, he has a tendency to yell at me. LOL Those tweens, I'll tell you. ;-) Thanks for sharing such a sweet story and for allowing me the memory of mine once again. Your response to your son taught him a valuable lesson of selflessness because even though you miss your mom and it would make you happy to see her again, you wouldn't want her back if that meant her pain. It's like the saying, "Train up a child and when he grows he shall never part." Keep up that wonderful mothering!
Hugs!
It is amazing what our younger children come up with sometimes. I think that when they are still children, they "hear" heaven more clearly than we do as adults and so sometimes surprise us with something so profound.
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