Since I’m with them every day, I know how wonderful my little boys are. Sure, they are a handful, no doubt about that. They love hard and they fight hard but they really do bring me joy every day. What I tend to forget is how much joy they can bring to others.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we spend a lot of time outside. And, since I’ve started another fitness challenge for myself, I have convinced the boys to walk with me every day. Usually we’ve only gone up the street a short way and then back home. Yesterday, I convinced them we could make it all the way to the park, which is a little over a mile from our house. They were up for it. I make it fun for them by letting them run ahead of me; sort of like red light, green light. They get a few feet away and I yell, “Stop!” and they stop until I catch up to them. They love it.

Once we got to the park, however, they were pretty worn out. But we played on the swings and the merry-go-round for about an hour. When it was time to leave, both boys said they were tired and wanted a piggy back ride home. Dilemma; how was I going to do that?? Then, the light bulb went off over my head. Let’s take the bus back home! They have never ridden the metro bus so they were totally jazzed for it.

When we boarded, you’d have thought we just entered Disney Land, they were so excited. And, they were so incredibly polite! There were two seats open across the aisle from each other. Two older women occupied the other seats. Both of my boys walked up to each woman and politely asked, “May I sit in this seat?”  (I cannot lie, I had a brief moment here where I thought my boys had been abducted by aliens and replaced since I have to beg for this type of behavior at home. Guess it just goes to show I’m doing something right.)

That bus ride lasted less than ten minutes. But those boys were so excited and enjoyed that ride so much. When we reached our stop and started heading for the door to exit, Jacob and Christopher turned back towards everyone and waved and said goodbye. I am not exaggerating when I say every single person on that bus waved and said goodbye back. It was like a scene from The Sound of Music! I am so proud of my boys and it was so incredible to see just how much joy they bring to others.