By P. Berman 

What should I tell him? Will he be jealous? Will he get scared? 

Claire had just put away the last grocery as Davy came in from the backyard with Mr. Carson. “Mommy can you play a board game with me? Mr. Carson says he is too tired.” Claire look into Mr. Carson’s face. He did look very tired.  Claire was worried about him; he should sit down and relax.“What did you do to tire our Mr. Carson out?”  

Davy started laughing. “Well, maybe I did run after a squirrel into the forest and maybe I was sitting in the grass watching it eat so Mr. Carson didn’t see me. And,” Davy said apologetically, “maybe, I should have heard my name called but...mommy the squirrel has tiny paws that it uses to eat, and I was so amazed it took me awhile to hear.” 

My curious Davy. But, he has to learn to be more careful when he is out in the woods. 

Claire could see in her mind just how it happened. She felt pulled between smiling at his joy and anxiety over his recklessness. Sitting down in the tall grass in the woods, and not calling back to Mr. Carson was dangerous– he could get lost – the woods went on for miles.” Mr. Carson saw the emotions play across Claire’s face. He had become very anxious when Davy didn’t immediately respond to his calling out. But he didn’t want Claire to get overly upset. He noticed she still had a hard time calming down once she got anxious. 

 “He did apologize Claire, but I admit, I did get nervous and start rushing back and forth thinking he might have fallen and gotten hurt.” “I never get hurt Mr. Carson, you don’t have to worry about me.” “Davy,” Mr. Carson said with a chuckle, “you get hurt all the time because you run so fast, your feet don’t notice rocks in the grass!” 

Why does he look so pale? Could Mr. Carson be coming down with something? 

“Davy, I think we should tuck Mr. Carson in his favorite chair with his sports blanket. I know you don’t like to watch sports on TV but, since you tired Mr. Carson out, you should sit near him and get him his soda and snacks whenever he wants them.” 

Why do big people tire out so fast? He is so old. I can’t make him chase me so much. 

Davy was looking up at Mr. Carson and really paying attention to him for the first time all morning. He did look very tired. They had been playing outside all morning; Mr. Carson had mentioned it was time to go back inside, right before Davy got distracted by the squirrel. Davy felt very selfish. He loved Mr. Carson; he shouldn’t forget how old he was!  

Davy hated watching sports because it meant he had to sit still. His mommy had told him many times that sometimes, you had to do something you weren’t interested in, just because someone you loved cared about it. When Davy looked up at Mr. Carson and saw the fatigue in his face, he was instantly sorry he wasn’t acting interested. “I will help you Mr. Carson. You can explain the game to me again and maybe I will like it this time”.  

Mr. Carson took Davy’s offered hand but started to chuckle. “I won’t explain things to you Davy, don’t worry.” Claire took his other hand and they walked together into the living room. Davy held Mr. Carson’s blanket while Mr. Carson sat down, flipped the switch and popped his legs up the way that made Davy laugh. 

Claire turned on the TV and was happy to see that Davy was sitting down next to Mr. Carson, holding his hand, and asking questions. Claire sighed. Her Davy was learning a lot about how to care for others.  

How did he learn all this? 

Would you like to learn how to help children learn to be kind and caring? 

You can find a lot of ideas at: 

https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/kids-care