My son Cole is very special! Wise beyond his years is a good way to describe him! Since the time he was born, he was ahead of the game. He was just a few minutes old when I spoke to him for the first time and he opened his eyes and looked at me as if he really knew what I was saying. He slept through the night when he was two weeks old and by the time he was two he could recite the alphabet, name letters by name, count to 15, etc.
He is sensitive too! The first time he fell off the bed (I think he was around 18 months), i raced to pick him up to make sure he was okay...I was crying harder than he was and he started to rub my back to comfort me! He was very close to my Grandma Elda who died when he was almost 3. After she passed away, he would let me know that everything was okay because Grandma Elda would throw him fruit roll-ups down from heaven!
He started Montessori Preschool when he was 4 and cried every time I dropped him off but loved school! He could read and put together maps of the world by the time he was 5 and actually became upset when he thought he had read all the books the school had!
When it was time to start Kindergarten he didn't know if he could handle being away from me all day...especially since all they did was play! He really wished they would actually do hard work! LOL! But one thing was for sure he was everyone's friend! He was invited to several birthday parties and received love notes in his backpack from the girls every week! When we asked who his friends at school were, he would say he couldn't think of them all because there were 24 friends in his class! (That was the total number of kids in his class!) He loves everyone and can play with his 2 year old sister or stay with my grandpa and have adult conversations and play golf!
He is Special!
So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I went to eat lunch with him at school and I met a new friend! His name is Ashton and when I met him on the playground he said with a sweet smile, "I'm Ashton and I'm from Broken Bow...Cole is my friend!". And then he hugged Cole's shoulder. It's always a big dilemma for Cole when we eat with him at school because they get to pick two friends to sit with us and we get to sit at a special table outside of the lunchroom. Cole always has trouble picking only two friends...especially when they are all saying, "Cole, Pick me, Pick me!". It just so happened that two of his other friends had parents eating with them as well so Cole was happy that he could actually eat with 8 other friends!
I'll never forget the look on Ashton's face when Cole picked him to eat with us! He was surprised, excited, and confused all at the same time! He was so excited to get picked but since he was new, he had never been picked before and he had no idea what it meant! We filed through the lunch line, got our tacos, and headed out to the table. Where was Ashton? Cole said, I'll go find him! He didn't know where to go! So when we all sat down to eat...3 moms...9 kids...the conversation started! Then someone interrupted and said, "Who picked him? (Pointing at the new kid) My heart dropped and Ashton's face dropped when Cole proudly replied, "I DID!".
That's my Cole! I'm so proud to be his Mom and I can't wait to see the man he turns into! I hope we all learn this lesson...there's always a new kid...at school, at work, at church...Everybody's a friend...Everybody's special!
-Leslie