B's amazing mind

I'm really starting to get a sense of how this little dude thinks.  It is amazing to me, because he comes at life so very differently than I do.  Ty and I are kind of the same.  We want our hands (or feet) in as many different buckets at the same time as we can (much to our detriment at times).  But my B?  He is so focused on things he finds truly interesting.

 

Here's an example.  We participated in a program at church to feed and house a homeless group.  I took B with me to prep lunch and dinner one of the nights.  I put him in charge of making sure there was one sandwich per paper bag, one mustard packet, one napkin and so forth.  He's great at that kind of thing. 

On the way home, I started a conversation telling B if we hadn't come and taken our time to fix these lunches, this group of people may not have anything to eat tomorrow for lunch.  I was focusing on the emotion of helping people and how good that is.  And my B?

B, "Yeah, but Mom, did you know it took eleven steps to get the sandwiches made and into the bags?  Let me tell you what they were.  First, we laid out all the bread, second we put on a piece of turkey or ham, third..." and he goes on to describe in detail each of the eleven steps.

His little mind doesn't necessarily recognize easily the empathy part of this process.  The human need and the action to meet it.  His little mind automatically and enthusiastically figures out all the steps it takes to do a process.  Amazing to me!  I would never have given that part another thought, but here he is very excited about it.

I hope to learn how to encourage his little building, engineering, process oriented brain, while also teaching him how to cue in to the empathetic aspect of life as well. 

Its going to be tough for this emotional, passionate, jump in with both feet kind of mom!  I don't even read instructions!

I'm so thankful God made all of us so differently.  Life would be boring, people would be ignored, and/or tasks would never get done!

Hopefully understanding this will make me a little more patient when he has stopped getting dressed for school to watch what direction his electric toothbrush is spinning and how many times it goes around in a minute, as he stands there, the clock ticking for the bus to come, with no shirt and only one sock.