A Little Child

   Sometimes I have epiphanies. I work with kids that have special needs. It is a hard job, but may also be one of the most rewarding things I have ever done with my life. Sometimes I will tell the little five year old I work with something and never expect him to remember it or even care about it. One day we were driving home and I pointed out the pink clouds from the sunset. I didn't do it for him to really care it was merely something to have him do so he would stop kicking my seat. He looked out the window said it was pretty and then some typical sassy comment and nothing more was said that day. The next day we got in the car and as we were driving he started to frantically look out the window. After a few minutes he looked at me and was so disappointed. Those big blue eyes of his were filling with tears...so weird, so unlike Aiden. When I asked him what was wrong he simply told me the pink clouds were gone and the sky wasn't as pretty. From this I learned something (other than the fact that my child was precious) I need to see like Aiden sees. The smallest simplest things, like the pink clouds, made him so happy. Sometimes they were even enough to change his attitude about a whole day. There are so many things I daily take for granted. So many things that little children remember so easily. 
  Aiden also taught me how to forgive, and I mean really forgive. I have always known that forgiveness and forgiving others is very important. But it wasn't until I started working with Aiden that I really started to understand the whole concept of forgiveness. Sometimes when we would be working together he would do something and I would have to be stern with him. This of course would upset him. We may argue for a little bit and I would make him do something he didn't like. Sometimes he got a little angry. But what really blew me away was what happened after our arguments. He always, everyday, forgave me and got over it. I may have really upset him and he may think I'm a bully for ten minutes. But at the end of every day he still loved me. He would still be excited for our next day together. It would take him a while occasionally and he never forgot what happened he just simply let it go. I need to forgive like that. I often will say I have forgiven someone, but haven't really gotten over what they've done. Aiden would forgive me and go back to how things were and pretend like nothing ever happened. He didn't hold a silent grudge. He got over it and was ready for the next thing. I realize he is only five, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from his example. Forgiveness should be that way. I should get over what has happened and be willing to move past it. Just because hard things happen doesn't mean you have to forget all the good times and rid yourself of the future ones. 
  There are so many things to be learned from little children. They truly have some of the sweetest spirits. From watching and listening to them you really can learn so much.