On Boys and Bugs

Like most boys, our 5 year old and 3 year old are rough and tough. They jump off couches and counter tops. They wrestle. Fight. Maybe even bite. They're covered with bruises from head to toe. And dirt. Oh, the dirt.

But there's one thing that makes Isaac and Tripp different from other little boys (well, other than the obvious).

They won't smash bugs.

Not that I'm worried about it (at all), but isn't that something little boys just do?

Like spit and fart (on purpose) and pee outside. Trust me, I'd be happy if they didn't do any of those things.

But the bugs and spiders and flies?

They won't touch them.

Not because they're scared of them. No. Because bugs and spiders and flies have families.

Like us.

And Isaac and Tripp know just how badly families can hurt when they lose someone they love. How moms cry and daddies too. How birthdays get passed over. And holidays. How it's completely normal to pack up and leave church early because sitting there is just too hard. Just like it's completely normal to keep a chewed up piece of gum in the back seat of the car because that piece of gum belonged to Addie.

Normal.

What's normal?

Is it little boys smashing bugs? Maybe.

Or is it little boys missing their big sister? That seems normal to me. And so unfair.