HEART BROKEN

It is always painful to see your children sad or upset. Period. It is rotten. Such was the case yesterday afternoon for Smoke Bomb. He hopped in the car after school and almost immediately the crocodile tears began to fall. Turns out he could not find his ice cream money in his book bag and therefore missed out on the 'first ever time to buy ice cream at school'. He was so sad. And I was so sad for him. He had looked forward to this for years, literally. Over the summer we bought a special little money holder just for this purpose. He was so excited on Thursday night to put the quarters in the bag and then find a special place in his book bag to keep the money. We went over it a number of times. He was ready. But he must have been overwhelmed when she asked for the money on Friday. He said he searched and searched but missed this one little pocket in the book bag. And for those who know Smoke Bomb well, you know he has a hard time asking for help. For the entire afternoon, he periodically continued to sob over missing out on ice cream. I couldn't hold back my tears either after awhile. I felt horrible. I would have driven (or walked!) up to the school to pay for the ice cream. I would have put his money somewhere else had I known. I would have done anything. Sweet little boy. I know in the overall scheme of things it was not that big of a deal. But it was a huge deal to Smoke Bomb.

I had MacGyver stop by the store and buy some ice cream---the little cups like they sell at school. I got out his bookbag and we made a plan for putting the money somewhere more visible. We talked about how the teachers are there to help and he can always ask them to help find the money. I hugged him and sat and talked with him and cried with him. Eventually he moved on and ate dinner. And he loved the ice cream dada bought for him. So he was okay. But I am sure he will never forget the first day of ice cream at school when he had to miss out. I began to think down the road about the heart break my children will face. Times 4. We all have had our heart broken. It is inevitable. It is the way we handle it that makes the difference. Thank God for these experiences and the chance to help our children learn to handle them. Thank God for a higher power we can turn to. Thank God we never have to handle any heart break alone.