My Big Boy

Today, in a moment of unmatched\’c3\’82\’c2\~gracefulness, I swung my leg up over a bench effortlessly smashing my right knee into our picnic table. It hurt… a lot. The sort of hurting that would call forth unprintable language, except that I don’t generally use that, except in my head, and the boys were right there with me. But Judah seeing my dismay started asking “are you OK, Mommy?” and “are you hurt, Mommy?” When I could, I answered him and explained how I’d hurt myself. He promptly came over and gave me a hug telling me “It’s OK, Mommy, I will ‘tect you.” It took me a moment to realize that he was telling me that he would protect me from getting hurt again. That was sweet, but what surprised me was how many times he came over to give me a hug and to assure me that either he himself, or “the boys” would “tect” me. It was almost worth smashing me leg for, he was so adorable in his 3-year-old manly way.