Feelings, nothing more than feelings...

trying to forget my... oh wait a minute, i'm a few decades late.

But back to true feelings. My nephew Kyler has really blossomed in the past month, using complete sentences and has gotten over, what my sister fondly calls "the mommies" -- that awful phase where he panics and looks for his mother or dad. Kyler's "mommies" and "daddies" manifested in the mantras "my mommy, my mommy" or "my daddy, my daddy" any time I hugged him, raised my voice, etc. Come to think of it, just about anything and anyone could set of a case of the "mommies" sending Kyler into fits of tears and confusion.

Well little Kyler has grown up, and there were some endearing moments I witnessed. I'm amazed how complex and deep the feelings of a 2 1/2 year old are. For example, I was breastfeeding Ila and Kyler looked at me sadly and said, "My mommy has milk, too." I assured him that she did, knowing full well that Jeanne's milk has dried up, as Kyler was weaned last month. Jeanne told him "boobies are sick." It was just so touching, the amount of love he feels for his mommy.

Another time Jeanne and I were looking at some photos of our grandparents on her bed and Kyler noodling about on the periphery of the bed. Kyler inexplicably started saying "my daddy, my daddy" and I instinctively said, "Its hard when daddy's at work all day. Why don't you go give mommy a hug?" He snuggled up in Jeanne's arms and got a big love hug. The next words our of his mouth? "I feel a little bit sad." Wow, I know grown adults who can't even guess their own feelings, much less name them. Apparently Kyler has been learning about emotions at his daycare. As I think back to that incident, I think how easy it is to dismiss children's refrains as irritating, or how easy it would be to say "your daddy will be home soon" and brush them off. But the beauty of his simple statement has me convinced its worth listing with heart and feeling to what kids are trying to say.