Moments that Melt a Mom's Heart!

I have a thousand other things I could be doing right now, but it's getting to me that I haven't posted these thoughts yet, and I'm afraid I'm going to forget them, so here goes:

At Andrew's last basketball game, last Friday night, Grandma and Grandpa Larsen came to watch, and they brought my nephew Sam. Sam brought two swords with him. Grandma said that as he was headed out the door with one, he stopped and said, "Wait, I need to grab another one for Ethan!" Awww, how sweet to think of his cousin!

Well, with TWO swords and THREE boys watching the game (Sam, Ethan, and Alex), there were a few opportunities to practice sharing. Once when Alex had a turn with a sword, another little boy came up and asked for a turn, to which Alex replied, "No, mine," and swiftly hid the sword behind his back. (This was probably a good thing, since the sword wasn't really his to share in the first place.)
Anyway, shortly afterward, Ethan started to take the sword from Alex. I quickly stepped in and reminded Ethan that there's a better way to ask for a turn. Of course, then I was getting ready to help Alex hand over the sword, if Ethan asked nicely. But to my amazement, when Ethan sweetly asked, "Can I have a turn please?," my 19 month old kindly handed him the sword! I couldn't believe my eyes! No coercing, no need to explain that his turn was over - he simply gave it to Ethan. In that very moment, the spirit whispered to me that Alex had done it because of all the times Ethan has set a good example for him by sharing his things when people ask nicely! I made sure I told Ethan that the only way a nearly 2 year old child shares ANYTHING is if someone else has done a very good job of willingly sharing with him, and I thanked Ethan for being that someone. My motherly heart was just brimming with pride for my two sweet boys!

As if that weren't enough for one night, at the end of the game, Andrew was awarded the Sportsmanship of the Game Award, by the coach of the other team, for the second time this season. As the coach was handing him the treat, I explained that he's already received the award before, if he wanted to give it to another player. The coach just said, "No, he earned it." Then, Mike suggested that maybe Andrew could share the Skittles (one of Andrew's most favorite candies) with his teammate, Wyatt, who had helped another teammate up when he fell during the game. I passed this idea on to Andrew. Without hesitation, Andrew went right over to Wyatt and said," Here, you can have this. I've already gotten it before." Wyatt's dad said he didn't have to do that, but Andrew insisted. The thing that really got me was watching the joy on Andrew's face as he witnessed the joy he'd brought to Wyatt. I'm so grateful for a son who truly understands that it's better to give than to receive!

Ah, now I can sleep, knowing I've preserved a record of these small acts of kindness by my children.