"That's Kinda Neat!"
Mar. 25th, 2012 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blairmacgI love my little nephews. The eldest, seven-year-old Jake, reminds me of myself when I was little. Very verbal, loves to read, socially awkward on the inside, able to put on a good show on the outside. Since he's an older brother, and I was his Mommy's older sister, he calls me when he needs someone to commiserate with, when his little brother is driving him crazy. But most of all, I love to hear his comments about life, what he views as important, how he interprets stuff.
Before tonight's family dinner, we adults were talking about a friend going through a tough time and what we could do to help. "Whoa, wait a minute," says Jake. "I thought only kids needed help with stuff." Nope, I told him, and gave a few examples, tossing in that helping each other was what made families, friendships, and communities really, really strong.
He thought about it for a moment, staring off into space, then said, "So grown-ups need help, too. Wow. I gotta remember that. That's kinda neat!"
And you know what? He's absolutely right. It's extremely neat that grown-ups need help. We never need to outgrow our inherent need to connect, and we never need to grow into an isolated creature. Needing help is natural. It's actually a strength. And it's absolutely beautiful.
Then, as my mother tried to say a prayer before dinner, the younger nephew (not yet three) interrupts with, "I just tooted in my pants!" followed with sound effects.
My brain nearly exploded with the effort of not laughing.
Before tonight's family dinner, we adults were talking about a friend going through a tough time and what we could do to help. "Whoa, wait a minute," says Jake. "I thought only kids needed help with stuff." Nope, I told him, and gave a few examples, tossing in that helping each other was what made families, friendships, and communities really, really strong.
He thought about it for a moment, staring off into space, then said, "So grown-ups need help, too. Wow. I gotta remember that. That's kinda neat!"
And you know what? He's absolutely right. It's extremely neat that grown-ups need help. We never need to outgrow our inherent need to connect, and we never need to grow into an isolated creature. Needing help is natural. It's actually a strength. And it's absolutely beautiful.
Then, as my mother tried to say a prayer before dinner, the younger nephew (not yet three) interrupts with, "I just tooted in my pants!" followed with sound effects.
My brain nearly exploded with the effort of not laughing.
