Don't say it because I already know it...I am a total crybaby. I always cry at Hallmark commercials, Lifetime Movies, Extreme Home Makeover, and A Baby Story. Heck, I still cry EVERY time I hear our National Anthem(and do not even mention Taps). So it should not surprise you that my kids get it honestly.
One of my sweetest memories was when our family was watching the remake of Cheaper by the Dozen, and "FedEx" -the red headed brother-runs away. I, who was secretly teary, looked over at my younger son Jake(who is not usually my tenderhearted one) and he was crying. It really caught me off guard. He was really connecting with the story and with the sadness that the little boy was feeling. He was probably about 6 years old, but somehow, he really got it, and it broke my heart. I have seen similar moments in him since then, and it never ceases to make me teary. One thing that I always strived to do as a parent, from very early on, was to instill empathy in my children. It turns out to be quite the task in such a self-centered world, but moments like this one restore my hope. Those kind of tears make me proud.
Another teary moment came a few weeks ago when our oldest son came into my room about twenty minutes after we had sent him to bed. He asked if he could talk to me, and I immediatly knew that something was wrong. He started bawling, I mean really choked up, sobbing and I kept telling him that I could not help him until he shared with me what was going on. He finally got it togther(still sobbing, but understandable now) and said that he just could not tell me because we would be so upset and we would never trust him again. Fast forward 15minutes and he finally gets around to confessing a bad choice he made 9 months ago at a sleepover. This was made worse (in his mind) because he knew that I was uneasy about him being with that particular group(it was his year end baseball party...good kids, but a few bad apples among them) And he had worked very hard to convince us that he would be fine. Here he was...9 months later, and he was so convicted about deceiving us, that he said he could not sleep. Come to find out, we had been reading a book about the true character of a man, and that the decisions he makes in secret are the ones that tell what he is truely made of. Well, Jared had been mulling over this incident in light of that reading and conviction came upon him. I'll take those kind of tears any day.
Lastly, our daughter Micah. She is only 3 1/2, and her emotions are mainly love, joy, and happiness mixed in with the occasional evil eye, or pouty lip. But yesterday she blew me away. Let me set the stage...for the past 12 or 13 years I have been performing dramatic mimes, set to music, at our church. The last time I did one it was about 4 years ago.(actually while prego with Micah) But our worship pastor asked me to perform one during Easter this year. So yesterday, we all headed into town, dropped the boys and Jeff at baseball practice and Micah and I headed to the church so I could practice on stage. The music started (Watch the Lamb by Ray Boltz) and I began to run through the motions. About a minute into it I look down, and Micah is sobbing on the front row. I kept going through the motions but I asked her what is wrong. She tells me that she can not find her page in the Avon book that has the Backyardigans on it. So, I ran down, found it and then resumed. She quieted down but halfway through the second run through she was sobbing again. I went and sat next to her and asked "Why the tears???" She said, "Mommy that song makes me so sad" I hugged her and told her it was okay to be sad. Jesus died on the cross, but then I told her that we should rejoice because he did not stay there, he arose. After thinking for a moment I asked her if she was going to okay. She said,"Yes, but I can not hear that song anymore, because it makes me hurt to be that sad." Tears because she was moved, I will take those any day too.
Tears of empathy, tears of conviction, and tears of sadness...priceless. Next time you think of a crybaby, think again, they might just be the most mature person in the room.