Don’t Come Much Better

The other day Derek came downstairs into the kitchen while I was fixing dinner.

“Mom,” he said, “I’ve been thinking.  I don’t think many people are made better than me.”

That was a pretty interesting opening statement, so I asked him what he meant.

“Well,” he replied, “I’ve got speed, I’ve got stealth, I’ve got good brains…”  He looked out the window introspectively, then continued,  “…..kindness…strength… I just have a lot of really good qualities.”

I had to stifle a laugh as I assured him that he’s pretty remarkable.  After all, not everybody is born with stealth!  I wondered at the time if it is healthy for him to have such a high opinion of himself.

The following evening the boys were getting ready for bed.  I had cleaned their bathroom that morning and threw out all three of their grimy toothbrushes.  I pulled three new ones out of the drawer, and of course, Derek and Evan wanted the same one.  It was larger than the other two- a gift from our dentist.  They tried to bargain for it.  Both offered to pull the other’s weeds for him during the next week (part of their morning jobs).  That offer was then upped to pulling weeds and making the beds.  This was a highly desirable toothbrush! 

After several minutes of negotiation, we finally decided that the only timely solution would be to put two toothbrushes behind Glenn’s back and let Evan pick a hand.  He picked, ended up with the small toothbrush, burst into tears, and ran into the boys’ room.  Upon realizing his win, Derek initially let out a little holler of joy and danced around a bit.  In a moment he stopped, looked at me, looked at the toothbrush, headed into their room, and handed Evan the toothbrush.  “Here you go, Evan,” he said.  “I want you to have the toothbrush.”

I was so proud of my sweet boy!  Add generosity and empathy to that list of good qualities, Derek!   Those are qualities much more impressive than stealth or speed.  You’re right- they don’t come much better than you.  I sure love these great boys of mine!