Karstyn and Empathy

Michael has a new friend. She's got curly blond hair, is great at talking, and is a Virgo! Well, I think...she was born in September.

We had our playgroup on Thursday afternoon at Andrea/Paul's place. She's got a balcony (IN THE SHADE!) that the kids can play on! So we had ice cream and played with buckets of water and their small plastic outdoor slide.

Karstyn's the only girl in our 6 boy playgroup so it is SO interesting to see the difference. Karstyn plays with water buckets calmly and keeps the water INSIDE the biggest bucket. Oliver's throwing water out, and Michael is pouring the water as fast as he can, which makes huge splashes everywhere.

Karstyn watches and says, "You guys are making a mess. We should be neater."

What a difference a girl makes.

Before leaving, Michael runs and gets Karstyn and says, "Karstyn, you ready to go?" Karstyn says yes and the 2 start to jump up and down excitedly screaming. It is awesome.

Then, while we are walking down the cobblestoned street, they hold hands and laugh together. It is absolutely precious to watch as a mom.

Then, Karstyn and Oliver came over on Friday for our 4th of July craft. And Karstyn plays with Michael's shopping cart because really...who can pass up a good shopping cart? SO I leave Michael's room and leave the kids to have fun.

3 minutes later, I hear screaming...go into Michael's room...and find Michael holding the cart possesively while Karstyn is on the floor screaming.

I can kind of guess what happened in the middle there.

Karstyn is wailing and on the floor upset. And this is when Michael realizes the ramifications of his actions. He watches her and starts to look upset and he asks me, "What happened?"

"Well, this is what happens when you grab toys that other people are already using. It makes them very upset and is not a good way to share your toys. Especially when you are hosting playgroup. I think you should tell Karstyn you are sorry."

So Michael...with very much worry in his eyes...takes the cart over to Karstyn and says, "I'm sorry Karstyn. I am sorry. Here is the cart."

It was very sweet, even if I told him to do it. But he meant it because he looked her in the face and tried to give her the cart (which I did not tell him to do). My little boy with a big heart that he's just learning how to use.

And then 5 minutes later...we had another explosion. This time about a lawnmower.

DID WE JUST NOT GO OVER THIS MICHAEL?!?!!