Compassion

So...this isn't as much about "the" kids as just some thoughts I've had recently and relating them to the kiddos. We were having a meeting at church the other night and decided that a good topic for Advent wreaths would be circling around compassion. We tossed around a few ideas, and someone said hey, Meghan can talk about what it's like to teach compassion to kids. I thought and thought about that. And as I was driving home I realized that I think there's no teaching involved in this.

Have you ever been in a room with several toddlers and preschoolers and one of them falls down and gets a bump. He/she starts crying and nearly every child in the room will run over to the other with hugs or whatever. That's compassion and nothing I've ever consciously taught Erin or Jeff. Even kids Jeff's age will do this. It's a beautiful thing to see.

And when did a simple kiss stop making it "all better?" The other day when I had a headache Erin came into the room, climbed up into the bed and kissed my forehead. She said, "I can make it all better mommy. Here let me kiss it." And you know what? My headache got better. Not totally gone, but certainly better. Because of the kiss and because of the compassion that was behind it.

And those little moments when mommy gets a peck on the cheek and an "I love you mommy," or a snuggle on the shoulder from Jeffrey. That's true compassion. It doesn't have to be given out only when someone is crying or in pain.

I don't know if I'm making any sense here but it's just been something on my mind. Of course I've always given hugs and kissed boo boos. I let them know I love them, but I've never "taught" them to act compassionately. I seems to just be in the blood of my simply beautiful children.