The other day, my 4 year old son, saw a pawpaw lying on the ground, quite beaten by those beautiful birds, it had gotten too heavy for the fruit stem to hold, so it just gave way. He brought it in house and told us, he had brought some food home from the garden for us to eat!! What!! I was so proud of how a budding human was able to integrate senses of self care, selflessness and responsibility, all at once.
A few days later, I was sorting clothes for wash day in the laundry room and at this time, a soft spoken little human shows face before me and asks, "mummy, are you hungry?" Inquisitive to see what would happen next, I replied, "yes, I am actually."
Moments later, someone who had magically vanished from what I thought was our ongoing conversation, brought me a plate holding two slices of bread and a tumbler half full of soda. I tell you, I stopped the sorting, just gave him a tight hug for a bit and a teary eyed "thank you." This little ninja was infact no so little by heart and mind anymore! He had started to understand the Golden rule of any relationship on Earth, "there should be something to give and something to be given!" Watching me constantly give him, his meals, in this case, I guess he wondered, shouldn't he also be giving mummy her meals too?
To see actions that are outbursts of a clearly active and well oiled emotional and psychological train made me realise just how influenceable our environments make us, the people we talk to, the way they feed themselves and others, the care they give and the energy they exude. As we discipline and rebuke the little ones, maybe sometimes, just letting them discover themselves through our life's example and the mystery of the world outside our four walls is a big part of helping them develop into that fine young man that can hold his own and be a change maker in a world bleeding with a need for so much change or rather reversal.
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