Brotherly love

I just have to share this. Around 10:30 last night, I was sitting here at the computer finishing up a couple of things before nursing Anthony to sleep. All of a sudden, I heard John-William crying. This isn't completely unusual because he has night terrors sometimes and his cry is enough to give you a night terror!! He has a very distinct cry when he's asleep. So, I hear his cry and know that it's him and he isn't in his bed. I could tell that he was much closer to me than his bedroom. That really scared me because I thought that he might be sleepwalking with his night terror, as he's gotten out of bed before but I've always been in the room by the time it happens. So, I run into the kitchen and see him and Jackson heading into the hallway outside their bathroom. I ask what's wrong and John-William, still crying, says he's "going to puke." So, I usher him (quickly) into the bathroom. I step out and ask Jackson why he's up. John-William has never come out of his room by himself during a night terror or any other scary event and I had no idea why Jackson was up, too. Jackson had a very distinct look on his face -- one that was a mix between confusion (like, "why am I up?" and fear, like he was going to be in trouble). He just looked at me for a second and I wrapped my arm around him and asked him why he had gotten up. He said, "Because Bubba wanted me to come with him." Isn't that sweet???? Our 7-year-old son got out of bed with his almost-10-year-old brother because he wanted company as he thought he was headed to the bathroom to throw up. I just hugged Jackson really tightly and told him how sweet that was and how wonderful it was that he got up to help his brother. I also apologized that he had to wake up and told him that if it happens again, he can just call one of us. It was just so heartwarming, though, to know that hopefully we're doing something right!! I talk to them pretty frequently about loving each other instead of arguing and picking on each other. And, last night proved that they do.

What I found out this morning, though, made the story a little funnier. I was asking them about it and Jackson said John-William woke up him to go the bathroom with him and Jackson was afraid that John-William was going to fall down the ladder when he was coming off his bunk, so he got up with him. John-William said that he woke Jackson up by shaking him saying, "It's an emergency!! It's an emergency!!" I don't know why his potential vomiting was an emergency for Jackson, but apparently they both thought that it was. LOL

Laughing aside, though, it really makes me feel good to know that Jackson woke up, got out of bed and was going to help his brother. He could have just called one of us, rolled over and gone back to sleep. But, he got up to help Bubba. That's brotherly love.