Days like today are what makes a “papa” like me very proud. Although my son is non-verbal, that has never stopped us from conversing with him.  We always talk to him about being respectful, and about caring for others.  This is an area that our monkey struggles because he tends to pinch or scratch when he hits meltdown mode.  We always remind him to be nice and caring, especially to those who love us.

Today we found ourselves in the mall.  We like to take him to the play area where he can interact as best as he can with the other children.  In the beginning it was only him and I, as my wife and daughter were on about preparing for a teenage social my daughter had later on that day.  My little guy was in a great mood jumping and running all over the place.  There was even this other little boy who was trying to play with him, which is always cute.   But I felt bad because my little monkey had no interest in playing with him.   About 30 minutes later my wife and daughter joined us in to the play area and sat with me watching him play.

It was in the next minutes that all of our conversations revealed that he has all the intentions of being a gentleman.   The monkey would keep playing farther away, and we were struggling to keep an eye on him.  My wife moved from our seating area to another area so she could see him better.  A couple of minutes later he stopped playing and noticed that she was sitting by herself.  He proceeded to get his big sister by the hand and walk her to her mother.  Once she was seated there he we went back to me and also grabbed me by the hand and moved me to sit next to them.  When he saw that we were with his mama, all three of us together, he took a jump of joy and went back to play time.  We all looked at each other and smiled.

It is always a gift the he gives us when he creates these little magical moments for us.  Despite his disability, he understands the concept of family and making sure that his mama was not about to feel lonely, a true gentleman.

For this I am grateful…..thank you my little monkey.

Daddy loves you!!!!