So Much to Learn

"Dad, can I go play in Josh's yard? They're playing in the sprinklers. Can I please, please?" Seth and I never see Elijah move so fast as when he has to get ready to play outside. He's like Superman. One minute he is in one outfit. The next minute, he is in another. Bathing suit and sunscreen on, Eli ran out to meet his friends.
An hour or so later, I see my little man running through the yards to come home. Strange because he has his glove, bat, and light saber with him. I automatically assume that his friends had to go inside. One look at his face and something tells me a different story.
Elijah is 5. And when a 5 year old tries to look brave, it melts the hardest of hearts. I ask him what was wrong and he just crumbles. I pull my very huge baby onto my lap and just hold him for a minute and then begin the questions.
"What happened?"
"Josh and Tyler don't want me to be their friend anymore."
"What? Why?"
"Because they wouldn't do what God told them to do." (Insert eye bugging, hold-in-that-laugh face here. Did we name this kid right or what??)
"Well, son, you can't really tell others what God wants them to do like that. It ends up sounding totally bossy." A light of understanding begins to dawn on his face. Ohhhh.
"And son, we really need to forgive even if the other person doesn't say he's sorry." So easy to tell a 5 year old to do!
"Mom, can I go tell them I'm sorry?" I know I am exhausting this point, but he's FIVE! He understood how to make things right.
"Sure, that would be great."

So, off he trotted to go tell his friends that he was sorry for being so bossy. But, alas, they still didn't want to be his friend and said he couldn't play with them. By this time, I was in tears. I had just witnessed my son's heart breaking for the first time. We talked and hugged some more.
And, I tell you, it wasn't even five minutes later, he was bouncing around like old Elijah. Kids are great like that. They don't hold grudges. They just move on. I can learn so much from that!!
This was one of those life experiences I wasn't really prepared to handle. As a parent, I want to protect my children from every hurt. I would choose putting on an actual bandaid over a wound any day over having to hold a crushed little spirit. But it ended up being a good lesson in forgiveness, not only for my little man but also for me.