Today in the car Jafta spontaneously asked me if he could take all of the money he’s been saving in his piggy bank and give it to the child he sponsors in Haiti. He was so earnest about it. “It’s the right thing to do, Mom.” I reflected on how mature he was becoming . . . such a thoughtful little guy. About 2 minutes later he switched subjects to tell me about a new game he and his friends are playing at school. “We climb onto things and then throw ourselves off and try to see who can hurt themselves the most. It’s called ‘Purposefully Hurting Ourselves’”. . . . and then I reflected on how maybe he wasn’t all that mature quite yet.
Since he’s gotten older, I usually ask him permission to share stories that are about him on the blog. When I asked about sharing his intent to donate money, he said yes. When I asked him about the game, he said, “Oh, definitely tell them about that! For sure. And make sure they know it’s called Purposefully Hurting Ourselves and that I made it up. Also, if you tell these stories about me, that means that if anyone sends you toys for your blog, I get to keep them. Because I really need some new toys.” Well. There you have it. A fun new game to try. Please send all toys c/o Jafta.