The Source of Pain and Joy

Yesterday was a B-Day party for one of my nephews. Bowling! It was great! The kids had a ton of fun and the adults could catch up.

At the end of the party there was the usual loot bags plus the kids could bring one of the balloons home. Sullivan's favourite colour is yellow so that's what we ended up with. He was so excited to show mommy all the stuff from the party and he was especially excited about playing with this balloon.

When we got home we hopped out of the truck, started grabbing things and then the worst possible thing happened...

The balloon came out of Sullivan's hand and it took off into the sky.

The sky was falling. He was so upset. He wanted to show mommy this balloon so badly.

Now I had a choice.

Do I let him cry it out and be there for him or do we go get another balloon?

Well, I'm a guy and consoling is not my strong point. Fixing problems is. So we hopped back in the truck and went back to the bowling lane to get another balloon.

Do I really want to burn the gas in the truck to get another balloon?

Am I doing this for him or for me?

Will he remember this?

These are all questions that were going through my head.

It killed me to drive back to the bowling lane in the truck to get this balloon but it killed me more to see my son in pain.

I like to think I did it for him but if I'm honest I did it for myself as well. It feels good to be the hero. We help people because it feels good. Ultimately it's all for us but it's best when other people benefit.

And will he remember it? I have no idea but what I do want him to remember (and know) is that his dad is there for him. His dad will be there to help him with his problems when he needs me most. Will I solve all his problems? Absolutely not (and this will be a challenge for me) but I will help him with the tools to solve his own problems.

This seemingly insignificant event brought two important things to my attention:

1. It's amazing how much pain can come from the same source which causes so much joy.
2. Somebody else's pain opens the door for others to be heroes.
   

Perfect timing for dad to be a hero. Happy Fathers day to all the hero dads out there.