You know those moments in motherhood when you don’t know if you’ve made an impact on your kids? That moment when you wonder if you even contributed one thing to the development of his young mind? Yeah. I often wonder that with my sports prodigy of a son. No, seriously. He is a bit of a freak for an eight-year-old and how he can spout out the mouth every player ever played…their best game of all time, their stats, and even their mothers name. (OK, maybe not the last one, but this mother can dream, right?)
Today my husband picked him up and brought him home from school. My husband made an announcement at the dinner table that Boston did something incredible today that has made him the most proud of him than ever in his life. I clearly perked my ears up but figured it was something sports-related. I was quickly proven wrong—my son stuck up for someone who one of his friends called “chubby”. It made my heart skip a beat. This kid actually heard my hurt when I talked about what it was like being called names growing up. I often tell him that it’s wonderful to be kind to others but its incredibly brave to stick up for those without a voice.
Today he listened. To me.
It wasn’t a sports connotation or something that he turns to me and say “mom, you don’t understand.” It was something that I told him that stuck. He was so brave. He told one of his best friends that he was not allowed to talk that way to anyone when around him, but especially a girl. Hear that? My heart is doing a potter patter. A moment of joy that poured out of me and onto the dinner table tonight. I started to tear up when he was telling me the story.
There are often times in this motherly rat race that we all wonder if our kids are making a difference in the world they are caught up in when they aren’t home with you. Today proved it to me. I never doubted him, but was especially proud because sticking your neck out for someone else isn’t easy to do.
