It’s not often, I fear, that an opportunity presents itself for our toddlers to prove their worth, much less gain the recognition their efforts deserve.  In the most they whine and complain and demand and do all sorts of, “I’m the centre of the universe” type things - such is the nature of these little beasties that we spawn from time-to-time, these parasitic creatures that just seem to take take take.

 Yet every now and then they do something so seemingly selfless, helpful and downright ‘human’ that we must sit up and look at them as if only seeing them for the first time.  I had just such an occasions yesterday with my own little parasite (aged 4) that I found myself heaping praise on him as if he had just solved some long unsolved complex mathematical equation so important that in solving it mankind might enter into a new age … ok, not quite as ground breaking as that but it was certainly ‘human’.

To set the scene; I had awoken with a mild headache which gradually developed throughout the morning as I got on with my daily chores.  By 10.30am it was a full blown, nausea inducing, crippling and altogether decidedly unpleasant migraine (my first in 3 years).  Both the lass and the lad could have taken this opportunity to end me and as lunchtime approached I was close to finishing myself as I stumbled about the kitchen looking, hopelessly, for something I could make for lunch … something that was within my then current capabilities. 

I turned up nothing before stumbling back into the living room and collapsing on the floor only just managing to drag myself to the sofa to curl up in a ball before the lass started using me as a trampoline.  By this point the pain was unbearable and I was on the verge of having to hungry and boisterous children on my hands - what to do?  I cracked and broke down, there on the sofa sobbing something incomprehensible about making the pain stop (an earlier sortie to the medicine cabinet had found it bereft of pain killers).

It was at this point that the lad returned from his room, got me some tissues from the mantel piece and deftly followed by brief instructions on getting lunch for him and his little sister (20 months) without complaint … it was toast for his sister and cereal for him, no gourmet meal but enough to stave off hunger until I was fit to help.

 
My hero, my son (aged 4)

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