Big Brothers and Mac and Cheese

This boy right here. He turned 9 on Monday, December 4. That day we celebrated with cupcakes for his class and dinner that night with the family. He picked Mediterranean food and frozen yogurt for his birthday dinner, of all things. That evening we started the process of turning his room from a little boy room to a big boy room with new bedding and curtains. After seeing this picture, which was taken just a few days before, and realizing that next year he would be in double digits, it hit me that my first born is growing up on me faster than I ever could have imagined.

The next day, I had a fairly busy day at home. I picked up groceries from Walmart, wrapped gifts for over an hour, and did some laundry in between. A cold front came through and brought rain and cooler temperatures, which brought me a lingering headache that had been bothering me off and on all day. By that afternoon, it was killing me. All I wanted to do was go to bed and and sleep, but both boys were home. And Daddy wouldn't be home until very late with meetings stacked one on top of the other that evening. I didn't really think I could muster the strength to feed Evan or even feed myself. It was that bad of a headache.

Both boys had been kind of quiet for a few minutes, which usually spells trouble, so I went to check on them. I found them both laying on Zach's bed, giggling and talking as only brothers can. I told Zach that I was going to go lay down for a while because I wasn't feeling well and my head was hurting. I asked him to watch out for his brother, and he happily agreed. Around supper time, they both came in the living room where I was lying on the couch. Zach asked me if he needed to make himself a sandwich since I wasn't feeling well. I said yes, that would probably be a good idea. I told him I was going to try and get up to feed Evan, but he insisted he could do it. I told him where he could find some leftovers in the fridge, but he said, "No, I'll just make him some mac and cheese." I persisted that there was something already made in the refrigerator, but he was absolutely set on cooking his brother dinner.

With just a little instruction on where to find bowls and where the measuring cup was located, Zach proceeded in cooking Evan supper. He got Evan a bib, put Evan's medicine in the macaroni, fixed Evan some milk, and fed Evan the entire bowl of pasta. And they both loved it.

While this whole process was happening, I was feeling terrible about myself. Evan had had macaroni and cheese in one form or another for about 4 days in a row. That night I had every intention of making him something else, but my headache dictated otherwise. I texted my friends with the hashtags of #supermom and #NOT, but they texted me back encouragement.  One said that I was brilliant for making the oldest offspring feed the younger. The other said the brothers were bonding, and Zach was learning responsibility. As I watched Zach do an absolutely wonderful job taking care of his brother, I was reminded yet again of the gifts God has placed in him - compassion, kindness, and an encouraging spirit. Once more I was thankful for the miracle that Zach is - the miracle that came when the doctors said it couldn't happen. And I was thankful for Easy Mac. I am hopeful that tomorrow night Evan will get real food (but I'm not promising anything!)! But even if he doesn't, I will rejoice that God gave him the best big brother in the world!