Brothers

I absolutely love to watch the relationship between my boys. The two oldest boys share a room and the two youngest boys share a room. At night I hear the big boys talking while they drift off to slumber land. They share secrets, giggle, and give each other advice. When they get home from school they immediately head to the backyard for a game of kickball, baseball, or football. Sometimes all three!

But last night events took place that I never could have imagined as a mom and I cried at how happy I was that God chose me to be their mom.

A little background on my boys -
T-man, 10 years old, first born son, loud, really believes he's the coolest kid in the world, has a heart of gold, loves everyone, but can cry at the drop of a hat, frustrates easily and will give up before he starts, loves to cuddle, extremely social, wants to please and not let anyone down, but has to try 10 times harder than other children at school and sports...

Bubby, 7 years old w/ an old mans sole, hysterical, but is our quiet child, shy until he gets to know you, extremely gifted at school and all sports, AWESOME baseball player, very sensitive, HATES all vegetables, looks up to his big brother, loves to hang out w/ dad on the ball field, but loves his quiet snuggle time w/ mommy, is the middle child and is often just along for the ride...

So a little observations I've had lately....T-man is a little jealous of Bubby b/c he does not struggle in school and really shines on the baseball field. And last night I became very concerned. T has had an extremely rough week at school...and after several e-mails and phone calls w/ his teacher...I have realized I cannot protect my baby all the time...and is makes me very sad. He's trying and unfortunately he needs a lot of patient people...and Ms. Not Nice is not very patient and has led to many crying evenings this year.

Well, last night T's team did not have enough players, so #1 coach puts in the younger brother. I begin to cringe and get excited at the same time. I love watching them play and am excited they will get to play together. However, I'm nervous b/c I don't want T to feel as if little brother steals his light. The game starts off by T striking out. Oh crap! And then Bubs gets up to the plate and belts it out past 2nd and gets 2 RBI's. He then steals all the bases one at a time and makes his way home. In the field, T is catcher...and he is totally awesome at this position...and Bubs is playing 2nd. Bubs get 2 outs in that inning and I am so excited for him. Back to bat...T strikes out again, Bubs gets on base, T still great catching, Bubs is totally rocking 2nd base and not letting those boys 3 and 4 years older than him get anything past him. But I see T getting a little discouraged b/c all of his team mates are not chanting for his brother.

But then something really cool happens - He follows his team mates. I hear him yelling "Come on Bubby. You can do it." He whispers to him on his way out to bat. I would pay a million dollars to have been a fly to hear what he said. He cheers and cheers...even though his whole team is cheering for him and saying how awesome he is. I hear T say, "That's my little brother. He Rocks!" And each time from then on they hi-5 on the way to the field, whisper before hitting and I see such a great bond.

Today I tell T how really great he is as a big brother. And how all his little brothers are looking up to him. And how they will follow his lead. And what a great example he is setting for them. And he says, "Mom, I had no choice. I wasn't doing much w/ my hitting, but that little guy was doing an awesome job. He was showing my friends on my team and the other team how awesome he is...and he's only 7. He wasn't even intimidated by them. Even though he's weird he really did great."

I was so proud!