Oh I have a sweet little boy!!!

I know it may be a lofty claim but . . . I am pretty sure that I have one of the most tender hearted sweetest boys that has ever existed right here in my family. Each one of my kids is so amazing and has unique talents. One of Hayden's special talents is simply that he loves people. And he does! He is always telling me, "Mom . . . I love everyone. I'm everyone's friend." And he means it!

Hayden loves to hug. He is always hugging. It was really cute yesterday at my parent's missionary report in their ward. After the meeting was over, and my parents were making their way down the isle greeting friends and neighbors as the went, Hayden walks up to my Dad and says something like, "Hey! . . . How about a hug?" And then he immediately ran up to and wrapped his arms around Grandpa. It was pretty cute.

Today the kids were running around playing and I was sitting on the couch. All of a sudden Hayden pauses from his playing, runs over to me and gives me a hug and then runs off. As he is running he yells, "I love you!" And then a couple seconds later he continues . . . "Jesus made you special!" It was a sweet moment. But not nearly as sweet as what just occured tonight.

Today was a hard day for Drew as far as being obedient is concerned. At the end of the day we told Drew that from now on every time he is being knowingly disobedient he is going to be grounded from his best buddy Jonah for the remainder of the day. We chose that consequence because it is the one thing we could think of that Drew would be devastated about if it were to happen.

So after we read scriptures, said prayers, and read stories I turned the lights out and was putting away some laundry in the drawers. Hayden started saying something and it wasn't making a lot of sense. I said, "What are you saying Hayden?" And then he said, "It's just that . . . sometimes Drew lies." And then he went on, "Drew was spitting on me and he said it was rain."

Of course I wasn't too pleased about this bit of information and I started saying to Hayden (but really meaning for Drew to hear) "Well Hayden, if Drew spits on you again . . . you tell me! Because if he spits on you I am going to ground him from Jonah!!"

As soon as I said this Hayden burst into tears and was sobbing uncontrollably. I was surprised. I thought Hayden would be happy to know that his brother would be punished for spitting on him. I wrapped my arms around Hayden and said, "Hayden . . . what's the matter? You down want me to ground Drew?" And Hayden weeping said, "It's just that . . . I love him!! And if you ground him then he is going to be out of this world!"I was like, "What are you talking about?" He kept sobbing hysterically. I tried to make him understand. I said, "Hayden I love Drew too, but it is not okay for Drew to be spitting on you. That is why I said I would ground him." This didn't help at all though. He started crying louder. He kept crying trying to find air and stuttering, "I love everyone. I don't want you to ground Drew and his friends." He turned over and seemed like maybe he might calm down. I said, "Go to sleep bud." And I put his blanket over him. I went in our bedroom and was going to tell Lamon about how sweet it was that Hayden cared so much about whether I grounded Drew or not, and then Hayden started sobbing again. Lamon went in and laid next to Hayden and Lamon asked Hayden, "What is wrong?" I overheard Hayden tell Lamon, "Mom said that she was going to 'Drowned' Drew. But . . . I love him." The whole time my sweet little boy thought that I was saying I was going to 'drowned' Drew. That is why he said, "but then he would be out of this world!" I didn't quite understand that when he said it. I came in and grabbed Hayden and hugged him and assured him that I would never ever ever ever drowned Drew. That I loved him too! No wonder the poor kid was so devasted! I said to Hayden, "Hayden say 'GRRR . . . ound' Do you know what grrrround means?" He didn't have a clue. So I explained to him when someone says that they are going to ground their children from something, it simply means that they can't play with it/him. He was quite relieved to say the least. And I just can't stop thinking about how traumatic that must have been for Hayden when he thought I was saying 'drowned' and not 'ground'! He certainly does love his brother though, and of course couldn't bare the thought of not having him here with him for a moment. Sweet, sweet Hayden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you!!