For Daddy

My son surprises me sometimes with his capacity for generosity. About two weeks ago he did something that was especially sweet. The kids and I had lunch with my Mother and we took the kids to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. In an effort to keep them at bay, I offered a treat to any child
who remained reasonably calm and quiet for the duration of the shopping trip. Yes, it is bribery. No, I'm not ashamed. They had their moments but, all in all, the kids were well-behaved so I bought them a package of Airhead Extremes (one of my son's favorites and easily divided among two kids). I gave the kids two strips each when we got into the car and we began our 10-minute drive home. My son and I had the following conversation:

Son: These airheads are SO good!

Me: I'm glad. Can I have one?

Son: Uh huh. Has Daddy ever tasted them?

Me: Thanks. Yes, he's had them before.

Son: I'm going to save one for him Mommy.

Me: That's sweet honey but you don't need to. He's had one before. Plus, there are two more left and I was going to give one to you and one to your sister.

Son: I'll save some of mine for him.

Me: That's really nice. I'm sure he'll appreciate that.

We got home and my son had saved about an inch and a half piece of his last Airhead strip. He wanted to make sure that his Daddy got it so, without any prompting, he took out a piece of paper and a marker and asked my Mom how to spell, "For Daddy." He wrote it on the paper and then drew a circle. He put the paper on the arm of the couch right by the front door and put the piece of candy inside the circle. There was an arrow pointing from the words to the candy.  It was painfully sweet. My Mom still talks about it to this day and boasts about my son's unprompted sweetness in a way that only a grandmother can. She told me it was blog-worthy and I have finally given the incident its due web-based validation. Mom, this one's for you!