An Extra Mother's Day Present

This mother's day Justine gave me an extra reason to be proud of her.

Today we had to play soccer in very cold weather. I dressed the kids as warm as I could, but still matching and having free movement of their limbs. Caroline had sweatpants on, long sleeve shirt, hoodie all under her jersey. Justine had the same, but instead of sweatpants, she had a black pair of leggings under a black pair of running pants--we only had one pair of black sweat pants.

So at the very beginning of the game, one of the girls' team mates had an accident and wet her pants. She was very embarrassed, refused to play, was crying and very upset to say the least. Her dad tried running somewhere close to buy her another pair of pants, but could not find any. And we only had one player in reserve, so we really needed all our players.

I asked Justine if she would be willing to give the little girl her running pants and just play in leggings. Justine said, "I would be freezing!" I told her she would be freezing, but her team mate cannot play with wet pants, and she is cold and embarrassed. And if it happened to her, wouldn't she want someone to let borrow a pair of pants? That was all the prompting Justine needed. I helped her slip the running pants off, and Justine played the rest of the game in just leggings, and did not complain about it once. When the team mate thanked her for the pants, Justine graciously said "Your Welcome" and nothing else. No teasing, no complaining, just a "your welcome".

I try so hard to raise girls that are kind and think of others, and sometimes I am lucky enough to see glimpses that I am accomplishing my goals. I got a new car, sweet homemade cards and a set of patio lights for mother's day, all of which I appreciate, but my favorite present was witnessing Justine's giving nature.