Photo by Leisy Vidal on Unsplash

Let me tell you a little story.

Yesterday I met a young boy, a bit younger than the little man. I was told by his grandpa that he refused to go to school. It turned out that his parents recently separated and the boy was confused having witnessed his parents argued and his mother fighting with his father. He also refuses to go to his new school as he would very much prefer to go to the old one in his father’s city. In his young and innocent words, he told me that his mum was fighting with his dad and he does not want her to do so. He also did not want to leave his dad to go live with his mum. I was speechless. What do you tell a little boy to cheer him up a bit? He was too young to understand marital woes, too fragile to deal with separation, yet, here he is suffering the brunt of it. I tried to cheer him up the best I know how by promising to give him a box of crayons the next time we meet. I know for sure any child would be delighted to get a new set of crayons and it would be therapeutic to use them and draw their pains away.

Later that day, I heard him shouting with glee about being given new box of crayons. I can tell that he really looked forward to my simple gift and that he was too excited to receive it. I also reminded him to use the crayons often and to go back to school.

Now, a box of crayons would not really amount to a gift. Some would even say there is nothing extra ordinary about it. It does not cost me much, either, to give him those. He may have received a new set of crayons but he made me so happy to have given them to him seeing how happy I made him even for a little while. Sooner than later, he will find out how complicated and lonely life can be when your parents separate but I hope he will continue to look for happiness in the ordinary and the mundane to help him get through life. I wish him and his parents well.

Note: While doing some spring cleaning here, I chanced upon this post which was sitting on my drafts folder since 2018. I had to wrack my brains a little recalling who this little child was. The years have passed and, just like my litte one, this child is probably in his early teens now. We have not met him again so I am guessing the plans to go away with his mom and leave his dad behind has pushed through. It must have been really sad for him to go away. It may not look like it, but I pray it all ends well for this child and that his parents found a way to make the transition in their lives even a little less painful and heartbreaking for their child.