Now THAT’s empathy

This is Raine and Dawson (one of her favorite babysitters) last December at the zoo. Raine LOVES Dawson. She is constantly talking about him and always wants to know where he is. On multiple occasions she has excitedly shouted, “there’s Dawson” right in the middle of Sacrament Meeting as he passes the sacrament or gives a talk.

Last Sunday, Dawson brought Raine a book which she was looking at as the meeting started. Just as they were preparing the sacrament, Raine got to this page:

She kept saying, “baby’s sad” over and over again. I didn’t really look at her until about the fifth time she said it. When I did, I realized that she had big ‘ole crocodile tears running down her face. I pulled her onto my lap and turned to the end of the book to show her that the baby was happy, but she kept turning back to the sad picture and saying, “baby’s sad.” So I closed the book, set it aside, and tried to focus her attention on the sacrament.

She started crying. . . . Not the two-year-old fit kind of crying but the sad, break-your-heart kind. I tried to reason with her about the advantages of being quiet so I didn’t have to take her out in the hall. I thought it worked at first, but then in the saddest voice you’ve ever heard she said, “I need to go out in the hall” and then started sobbing. I had no choice, so I climbed over Elder and Sister Jenson and carried her out of the chapel.

After the meeting I had no fewer than three different people comment about poor Raine having to be taken out of the meeting. Why? Because this is literally the first time that I have ever taken Raine out for a reason other than to feed her when she was a baby.

So from now on, all books will be censored for “intense emotional portrayals” before being given to Raine!

3 thoughts on “Now THAT’s empathy

  1. Tara Hunt

    That is HYSTERICAL! A nursery worker brought a girl about Raine’s age to the door of Sunday School this last Sunday to get the attention of her dad and she called out "Daddy- I POOPY!" And we all COULD NOT stop laughing.
    Your comment on the glucose test was so right on- and so funny. They really are the worst.

    Reply

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