That Makes You Happy?

Riley asks me this every time he does something that he knows is good. He says it in the sweetest voice and it just about always makes me want to cry. Today, when I picked him up from school, he did something so kind that I actually did cry. His teacher did too. When I walked up to his classroom door, he was one of three children still in the room (the rest have good mommies and daddies who come to retrieve them earlier). Each of the children had his own balloon. Anyone with kids probably knows that balloons are a sacred item and it is a super big deal to be allowed to play with one, especially at school. One of the other children in the room was his friend Luke ("Lukie" as Riley refers to him). Luke's balloon met an untimely death a few minutes after I arrived, and knowing from experience with Riley just how traumatizing this can be, I was not surprised to see Luke break down in tears. We left shortly after with Riley explaining to me that Lukie had popped his balloon and was sad. After we were out of sight and out of earshot, I asked Riley if he wanted to share his balloon with Lukie because he was sad. He looked at me and said he wanted to take his balloon home to "show Daady". I told him that was fine and that it was his choice since it was his balloon. I could see him consider this and then start walking. We took one step and then Riley announced that he wanted to share his prized balloon with Lukie. He turned around, walked back to his classroom, opened the door, walked straight up to Luke and handed him his balloon and said he wanted to share it. For an almost three year old, it was probably the kindest and most heartfelt gesture I have every witnessed, and I was so proud to know it was my son on the giving end of such a gesture. I hope I can capture the image of him extending his arms with ballon in hand in my mind forever. All the way home he told me that he had made Lukie happy. I asked him how it made him feel and he said it made him feel happy too. I told him that I was proud of him and he said he was proud of himself and that Miss Vanessa and Daddy and Wrigley and Winnie were proud of him too. And I'm quite certain that they were.