sweet, tenderhearted boy
My sweet Kokopelli came into the room a while ago, lower lip trembling.
"What's wrong, little man?"
"When I went to the bathroom, there was a fly in the potty, and I tried to take it out and put it on the counter, but I squashed it. I killed the fly!" *floods of tears*
It took much soothing and cuddling to calm him down. Eventually we went upstairs to the scene of the fly-squashing (to wash the fly-killing, treacherous hands), to discover that it was actually a tiny, tiny gnat. He burst into fresh tears, and kept saying, "I didn't want to kill him! I didn't mean to kill him!" After more soothing and reassurance that gnats only live a short amount of time, gnats are very hard to pick up without hurting them, and it was probably nearly dead if it had fallen in the toilet, he calmed down enough to go to bed.
I dread his exposure to the inevitable "friend" who likes to hurt insects, etc. for "fun". I also dread my dad deciding to expose him to the "manly" outdoor activities of hunting and fishing. I can just hear his voice saying, "You need to get tough, boy! This is nothing to cry about!" (My dad is a kindhearted man, but grew up in a southern tough guy's house, and these attitudes rub off.)
Is it crazy for me to want my little guy to stay tenderhearted and kind forever?
"What's wrong, little man?"
"When I went to the bathroom, there was a fly in the potty, and I tried to take it out and put it on the counter, but I squashed it. I killed the fly!" *floods of tears*
It took much soothing and cuddling to calm him down. Eventually we went upstairs to the scene of the fly-squashing (to wash the fly-killing, treacherous hands), to discover that it was actually a tiny, tiny gnat. He burst into fresh tears, and kept saying, "I didn't want to kill him! I didn't mean to kill him!" After more soothing and reassurance that gnats only live a short amount of time, gnats are very hard to pick up without hurting them, and it was probably nearly dead if it had fallen in the toilet, he calmed down enough to go to bed.
I dread his exposure to the inevitable "friend" who likes to hurt insects, etc. for "fun". I also dread my dad deciding to expose him to the "manly" outdoor activities of hunting and fishing. I can just hear his voice saying, "You need to get tough, boy! This is nothing to cry about!" (My dad is a kindhearted man, but grew up in a southern tough guy's house, and these attitudes rub off.)
Is it crazy for me to want my little guy to stay tenderhearted and kind forever?