The Lesson

Brice has begun to really enjoy playing with trains. You know, the kind they set up at bookstores in the children’s section so homeschooling mom’s like me have plenty of uninterrupted time to make unintended purchases? Anyway, Reeves had a set of trains when he was younger, but they’ve long been packed away in the attic and his train table has been used as a surface for each Lego creation of the day. Today, without asking his opinion, I loaded all of his Legos into a huge shallow plastic bin that he can slip in and out from under his bed. Then I moved the train table into Brice’s room and set up the trains. I simply told all the kids, “I think it’s time to get the trains out for Brice…he’d love that.” Reeves helped me load his Legos into their new home, helped me move the table, helped me set up the track, and has been playing with Brice now for about two hours. Never, never did he ask why, or ask what did he get for giving up something he uses on a daily basis. He just did it and he’s enjoying it, and he’s teaching his little brother how to be a beautiful human being. Today’s lesson was for me…sometimes a simple act by a child can stop you in your tracks and make you ask yourself, “Can I possibly live up to that?”