Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Boys Break Things, Girls Cry About It

The old saying about the difference between boys and girls came clearly into my mind yesterday. It was a big day here yesterday.

Little Guy (4) had a bench fall on his toe at school. It was a nasty, scary accident that will probably leave him sans left big toenail soon. Lots of blood, lots of swelling. Mom, Dad and Big Sister became personal (yet unpaid) butlers delivering juice boxes and bowls of chips to the couch where empty containers were dropped to the floor when complete (much to the chagrin of Big Sister).

There he sat. All 3'6" of him - propped by pillows, snuggled under the RED fleece throw, a half bag of frozen edamame (compliments of his school where the horrible atrocity happened) taped to his swollen foot. Ultimately, the Tylenol would kick in, giggles would return and 17 slices of kielbasa (with fries, his master's favorite meal) would be consumed.

Big Sister, however, was a wreck. Her eyes bore tears all afternoon. I asked her why she was so upset, she told me she was scared for her brother. She said it HURT when she came into school with me to pick him up after the accident and one of the kids said Little Guy "...is bleeding a LOT!"

At that moment it had never been clearer to me: they are a gift to each other. They will always have each other to weep when the other hurts, to comfort when it is needed. It is my job to hold that relationship in my hand like a precious gem, to nurture it so that long after I am gone, it will still be intact.

Or at least until the next time they both want to use the Playstation.

1 comment:

Jeff said...

What the hell is edamame?

No, really.