He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I realized he was crying.
That’s definitely not what I expect when I pick up my son from after school care. Usually, they’re excitedly bounding out to see me, especially on Bojangles Thursday. It is a tradition to pick up food from Bojangles on Thursdays, since Dad has choir practice and we can enjoy fried chicken without worrying about Dad’s blood pressure. But today, D was in tears. I quickly (well, for me) steered my rollator against a wall so I could sit and console him. After I heard what happened and dried his tears, he told the counselor so that she could deal with the offending party. Then we headed to the car. His older brother had carefully picked up D’s art project to take it back to the car and gently took care of his brother and his things so that he could just focus on getting into the car. Then D cried about his friendship necklace being broken and not being able to re-knot the strand. J quickly said in a calming tone that he would fix it for him once he got into the car. J also suggested a trip to Chick-Fil-A instead of Bo, and when D agreed, I asked what flavor milkshake he would like. Milkshakes were a good distraction, as well as J’s calming tone with his brother.
While driving, I couldn’t help but smile at what I was hearing in the back of the car. J was normally D’s biggest tormenter, but he was doing everything in his power to calm down his brother. Whether fixing his necklace, empathizing, or even offering to let D lean on his shoulder, J was putting his little brother first.
It’s not an isolated incident. When J was sick this weekend, D was doing everything he could to help his brother, and he made it abundantly clear that he was going to sleep in a nearby chair because he wouldn’t be able to sleep upstairs knowing J felt so bad. A few hours later, during a thunderstorm, J was the one comforting D and talking him through the thunder and lightning that scared D so much.
I’ve always stressed to my sons that they need to always have each others’ back. I pointed out how his Dad and Uncle Randy were always there for each other. Sure, they tormented each other, just like J and D did. But when something was affecting one of them, the other was firmly in his corner. I told my boys I wanted them to have that throughout their lives. Yes, they were going to annoy each other regularly, but brothers need to be able to look out for each other.
My boys are typical boys and drive each other nuts often. But they are also the first one to support the other when something goes wrong. Worst enemies, best friends. But watch out if you take on one of them, because you’re going to be dealing with both. J and D readily torment each other, but no one can.
What a terrific pair of brothers.
