I'm sorry

They say it’s easy to teach a toddler words.  But teaching them when the use the word can be a bit of a challenge.  Particularly apologies.  Teaching a child when to say I’m sorry. It’s like teaching them to recognize and identify an emotion.  Not just teaching them when to apologize for something they did, but helping them identify sympathy…

I wasn’t feeling well after work one day when I went to get the kids.  Of course, you can’t really expect them to care about how their parents, though, right?  After all, it’s their world, and we’re just here to provide entertainment.  Well, I was pleased to learn that that’s not the case with my Brooklyn.  We’re in the car on our way home. “Can we go to the playground, please?”  “Brooklyn, Mommy doesn’t feel good.” “I’m sorry Mommy. What hurts? Show me!”  “My tummy hurts, but you can’t see it; it’s inside.”  “Oh it’s okay, Mommy. Come here, come here. Lemme see.”  (She doesn’t get the concept of not always being able to see the boo-boo.)  I reach my hand back to her car seat. She grabs my hand, and begins petting me.  Then she offers up a bracelet.  “Here Mommy. You want a bracelet? Here. This is for you.  You can have my bracelet. Do you want yellow? Or blue?”  “Oh, thank you, sweetie. I’ll take the yellow one.  That’s so nice of you.”  “You feel better?”  And the truth is that I really did!  Her compassion and kindness distracted me. And left me with a great sense of pride. 

I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering her love and devotion to all of her babies...her number one hobby is rocking and loving her babies to sleep. So sweet, my Brooklyn.