In a fit of rage and disappointment, Daniel held his head in his hand, as dramatically as possible. He concluded to me that he forgot to bring his teachers candy on Valentine’s Day. I can’t even express his disappointment, nor the level of drama he expressed in my bedroom last night around 10 something in this passage, but just bear with me. The kid was distraught.
I had to hold back my laughter because he was so serious about this omission. I had to help him fix his deficiency because this was relevant and important to him. Its 10 pm on 8 March and here he is concerned that his teachers never received Valentine’s Day candy from him. Who is this kid?
I reminded him of the candy that he received from me and asked him if he would mind sharing his candy with his teachers. With much enthusiasm, he agrees. I then asked him how many of his teachers would he be sharing the candy with. To my surprise he named 6 people.
When Daniel started Pre-K Counts, I had to complete some documents for him and one of the questions on the document was what do you like best about your child. My response (loosely) was his spirit. Daniel is one of the kindest and most caring children that I know. I have never met anyone with such a pure heart and such a keen sense of emotional agility, especially at a young age. Daniel is an empath, as previously stated. He genuinely cares about people, how they feel and what they think and do. I love that about him.
From the moment I knew I was having a baby boy, I started learning ways to promote emotional health. Given some of my experiences with other men (dating) and judging from their interactions, I knew that emotional health was something that was not directly discussed in their households. I wanted different for the future husband and father that I am raising.
Knowing that Daniel thinks and feels, I seek, at every turn, to protect his genuine nature. This world will rip him to shreds; he is sensitive. I seek to assist him in finding a balance between thick skin and his genuine nature to care for people. This is not an easy task, not by any means, but it is the one necessary for the child that he is.
This display of caring and sharing reminds me of why I love him so much, outside of the fact that I birthed him from my undergirds. Daniel loves, with all of his little heart. What five year old do you know that will take his own candy and give it to a bunch of adults? I barely know five year olds that will share their own candy with other five year olds. Pardon my amazement, but I am blown away by this. It is exceptional to me to see such a sweet person in such a cold world.