Monday, August 20, 2012

Kindness At Its Best

After face-painting

The following story is old news, but I really wanted to record it to remember it.  This happened in June, right before school got out.  

Every year Buddy's school has a Field Day to celebrate the end of school.  I volunteered this year and of course had Sambo tag along with me.  He LOVES going to Buddy's school.  He loves anticipating going to school and loves to feel like a big boy like his brother.  Plus he and Buddy are really close, so he enjoys being with him and seeing what he does.  

As expected, Sambo was super excited to do all the games with Buddy.  However, the school pairs all the students up with the partner and they are required to stick with their partner the entire the.  Since a lot of the field activities were partner games, that meant if Sambo wanted to participate (which he did), Buddy or his partner had to sit out so Sambo could play.  At each station the two older boys would talk amongst themselves to work out who would play with Sambo and who would wait in line.  Then they’d switch if the line wasn’t too long.  I never asked them to do it, or even dropped any hints that they should include Sambo.  I was in charge of taking photos of the event, so I was doing my thing the entire time.

Two months later, I still get tears in my eyes thinking about the way the older boys acted.  They were so incredibly kind to Sambo and were not only tolerant of him, but genuinely happy to give him a good time.  I gently asked Buddy and his partner a few times if the were OK having Sambo tag along.  I didn’t want to give them the impression I thought they were weird for playing with him but I wanted to respect that this was THEIR activity.  Over and over again they assured me they were having a great time.  


There is nothing I’d rather have then a kind son.  He treats Sambo good at home, but watching him treat Sambo well when he’s with his friends made my year.
 Tug-of-War
 Collecting Marbles with Their Feet
 Wheelbarrow Races
 Three-Legged Races

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