Friends

Yesterday, I was granted a glimpse of what friendship means.

Kiddo was playing with his best friend Z and Z's younger cousin A (RevScott's daughter).

They were playing with rakes. Yes, that's right, rakes. There's an empty patch of land in the yard at Z's house that in previous years has been home to a garden, but since the house is on the market this summer, they decided not to plant anything.

Kiddo and Z wanted to rake it. and generally make a lot of noise and a little bit of a mess.

The moms were inside talking, so we dads put our heads together and figured, sure--why not. Rake away, kids.

They were having a grand time of it, when A decided to toddle over and ask to play with one of the rakes:



Z's dad asked Z if he would give the rake he was using to A so she could play with it for a few minutes. Z dutifully listened to dad and handed it over without a complaint.

Then he watched Kiddo and A happily raking away, and decided he didn't like the situation after all. Running a few feet away, he flopped on the ground and held his chin in his hands, pouting. (Which actually showed a good deal of maturity on his behalf...not many 5 year-olds immediately agree to something they know they don't want to do...like giving up his "toy.")

Kiddo noticed this, dropped his rake, and came over to ask Z what was wrong:

Z didn't answer.

Kiddo looked at Z, looked back at his rake, looked at Z again, and decided to lay there with Z:

And there they lay for about two minutes...which was about the time it took A to decide she was bored with the rake.

Sometimes the greatest act of friendship (or love) consists of just making the decision to be there...to come alongside another person, lay down in the grass, and hold your chin in your hands next to them until things get better.

There's a lot to be learned from watching our kids.

LH