Though I'm mostly avoiding the newspaper, lately I've been reading about our October Surprise Storm (the one we were not warned about, which made it worse).
Today's issue carried lots of peoples' storm stories, and I especially liked this one which I'll share, below. It reminded me how often we (especially as mothers) try to spare our children from work when in reality, we're keeping them from growing-up with a sense of responsibility.
Young Man on a Mission
Lisa Carney of Williamsville was stunned when her husband put their 11-year-old son, Brent, in charge of the fireplace after their power went out.
"Relax," the husband told her, "the kid's a Boy Scout."
She gasped as she watched her son tear up an old newspaper to use to get the fire going.
"I'll supervise closely, and by tomorrow, I'll be taking care of this and everything will be fine," she thought to herself.
Carney was amazed as she observed her son carefully tending the fire, day after day following the power failure.
"A man on a mission, without complaint, he would rise from under the warm blankets and endure the cold for wood," she said.
"When the power went back on Tuesday night, I was surprised to see disappointment in his face," she said. "I kissed the top of his head and asked him what was wrong."
Brent told her: "You know what, Mom? I really didn't mind the last five days."
Carney told her son that had he been a big help to his family.
"Now you think you are going to go back to being treated like a kid, huh?" she asked.
"Yeah," he sighed.
She then suggested he now scoop up the ashes in the fireplace, wondering if he would complain.
"OK, Mom. I've got it," the boy said without hesitation.
"I guess my October surprise is that my son is growing-up," Carney said.
*****
You can read more of our storm stories here and here
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