Life Lessons

You know how they always say that kids can be our greatest teachers? Well, I’m really starting to see how that is true. I’ve been thinking lately about two important lessons that I need to learn from Weston.

There’s no need to hold a grudge!

I don’t know about you, but when someone says something to me that hurts my feelings or makes me mad, I have to make sure they KNOW that I am upset about it (Said person is usually my husband). I can’t just accept an apology and be on my way, I have to make sure they feel proper remorse for the hurt and pain they’ve caused me. But not West. It’s so easy for him to forgive and forget. A couple of stories:

*I took West for his 18 month check-up. He was having a grand time playing in the doctor’s office, until the doctor came in. He then had to lay down on an uncomfortable table and be poked and prodded as I held him down. He made it very clear he did NOT like this! But as soon as his exam was done and he was allowed down to play, all was forgotten. He held no grudge against the doctor for all the poking and prodding and no grudge against me for holding him down.

 

*When West takes a nap that is too short or wakes up way to early I usually let him cry for about 20 minutes before I go get him. I do this, because usually he’ll fall back asleep. But the times that he doesn’t, it’s got to be frustrating for him knowing he’s helpless in that situation and all he wants is his mom, who’s not responding. But as soon as I go get him, he stops crying and is happy to see me. He doesn’t care that it took me a long time to respond, all he cares about is the fact that I’m there now.

There’s no need to discriminate when it comes to a smile and wave!

We’ve all been in the situation where we see a less desirable person walking down the street. When this happens to me, I’m ashamed to admit, that sometimes I look down and try not to make eye contact or, if it’s a really scary person, I might walk to the other side of the street. Not West! He’ll make friends with anyone. We take the train whenever we go to see Devon at work. Anyone who’s been on a commuter train knows that there are a lot of less then desirables. As soon as we get on, West starts waving and smiling at random people and it’s so amazing to see how there countenance changes! The other day we were on the platform waiting for our train. A different train approached the station and West started waving to the passengers on board. There was this homeless man sitting near the window, as soon as he saw Weston waving at him his face just lit up. Through the window, the man was making faces and waving back at West. This encounter took less then a minute, but it just made my day, knowing that my little guy had made someone else’s day and all it took was a wave and a smile.