By: Heather Desmond O’Neill
This makes my heart smile. 
I often find myself refereeing matches about who will get to use what toy, who gets to sleep with which stuffed animal and the ultimate …. who “gets to go first.” It’s exhausting. But I also find pure joy in hearing them giggle together in the playroom, watching them lie on the couch together or finding them asleep together in the same bed.
There are 3 things I want for my boys:
1. To be kind,
2. To be considerate, and
3. To be the best of friends.
At Jameson’s first baseball practice, his coach asked the team to run down the first base line and back to home plate. The entire team ran down and as they were making their way back, a fellow teammate fell. Jameson was the only one to stop, offer a hand and ask her if she needed help up. I was so proud of him. She was horrified and yelled at him to leave her alone, but nonetheless, I knew that he was genuinely concerned for her. He was kind, and that’s what truly mattered to me.
We hosted Jackson’s christening at our home. I knew there was going to be quite a few kids and rented a bounce house for them to jump and play in, rather than run amuck in the real house. When the company came to deliver it, we tried to keep Jameson in the house so he would be out of the way. Once he saw the house inflate and realized what it was, he started clawing at the door, crying to get outside. I tried to contain him and told him we would go out in a few minutes. His response, “I have to go out NOW! I have to thank them!” He was more concerned with thanking the people for setting up the bounce house than getting out and enjoying it. He was, and continues to be, considerate to others.
We have a bedtime routine, which consists of reading a story, saying prayers, and singing two songs. Before the boys get into their beds, they always give one another a hug and say “I love you.” It brings me so much joy to see them do this. I can only hope that they will grow up to become the best of friends and support one another through thick and thin. I frequently tell Jameson to “Take care of your brother, he’s the only one you’ve got.” He seems to take this to heart and makes an effort to be the “best big brother he can be.”
They’ve made me so proud in these first few years. I’m looking forward to where the next years will take us and how my little boys will grow into young men.
Community Voices for Health 