On a flight home from vacation recently, I watched a family in the seats in front of me. As the plane taxied down the runway, a little boy around 4 years old twisted and turned to look out the window at all of the things little boys love about airports and airplanes. He kept calling his mom so he could talk to her about what he was so excited about. After four or five calls, she finally lifted her head and nodded. She put her head back down.
As the airplane took off, the little boy squealed with excitement. His little sister was sitting in the middle seat beside of him and began to cry. Their mother, who sat on the aisle seat, comforted her and kissed her. As the flight continued, the flight attendants began to serve beverages and snacks. The little boy began to get very excited and kept asking his mother questions. She finally looked over and said, "Shut up!". I was horrified. He didn't respond back to her, but continued to fidget and anxiously await the cart to arrive. He became more and more anxious and kept moving in his seat. His mother finally scolded him harshly. I couldn't understand what she said, but he immediately began to cry. He curled up like a snail and looked out the window sobbing. This infuriated me as I watched her gently caress her daughter.
Throughout the four hour plane ride, I would smile at the little boy as he glanced back between the seats at me. He never smiled back. It seems he didn't know how to respond to a woman being nice to him.
The whole scene broke my heart. I prayed for this boy as the plane ride continued. I prayed for him to grow up and not be a broken man. I prayed that what his mother was doing to him would not be passed down. I prayed that he would know love and not become more and more angry. I wanted to take him home with me. I wanted to show him that it was okay to be a little boy that was excited to be on an airplane.
I saw what this little boy can become raised in such an environment. He will most likely be diagnosed with ADHD or something like it. In reality, he is scared of losing the tiny bit of affection he does get from his mother. So, he is constantly stressed. Children express this through hyperactivity much of the time. He is a broken little boy. Others see him seemingly quickly recover from the blows his mother gives. The reality is that he doesn't know how to handle them, so they never heal. He is a child that has not developed the reasoning or emotional maturity to process this kind of pain. He has to wait until he gets older to heal fully. The problem is that he may never get the help he needs to do this or be in the environment to do this. He will seek out others that treat him the same way his mother does not realizing what he is doing.
I pray that he becomes a good man. I pray he will know God and not believe the lies that his mother is telling him about who he really is. Every "shut up" tells him he is not worth her time. She doesn't really care about what he thinks or needs. He is a nuisance. She loves his sister more. He isn't good enough. He never says or does the right thing. He will constantly be trying to figure out who he needs to be to please her and be loved.
Although I will never know their names, I will never forget them. I will never forget a mother that is so broken herself that she is doing the same thing to her son. It is never too late to let love heal.
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