Oreo's Knight in shining armour!

Introducing our protagonist, Yash, my 8 yr old son. The story begins with a loud scream that was heard from outside through our kitchen window on the fourth floor. The screams were calling out my mother in law. Fortunately, my husband, Vickram ( eligible for best supporting actor), was at home, heard the screams and went to the kitchen window. A much relieved Yash, asked his dad to come down immediately. 
As Vickram reached the scene of action, Yash recounted ( time for a flash back) his story so far. That day, Yash and his friends had witnessed a few (read 10) boys, who were  throwing stones at Oreo. Oreo is a stray dog that has been adopted by a few of our apartments' kind residents. This loveable mutt is seen around our apartment complex, minding its own business, not disturbing anyone. Oreo, in this story, is the damsel who needed to be rescued. 

The scene was set to fight mode, where Vickram witnessed that Yash was holding a long stick that he had found fallen from one of the trees. His two friends who were supporting his cause, were already in a tussle with the boys. Through an animated narration from Yash, Vickram was able to understand that the boys wanted to play football and Oreo was in their space, not allowing them to play. They were, hence, trying to chase it to another spot.

A visibly aggravated Yash, was charging at those boys, who were older, bigger and more in number. His nostrils were flaring, chest expanded, waving the stick as he readied himself to attack the boys who were rude. His exact words to Vickram were 'Appa, what kind of boys are they appa? They are so rude and hurting an animal that can't speak or defend itself appa' 

Meanwhile, our dear Oreo, who had woken up from his beauty sleep with all the commotion, just made its way to a quieter place and settled down. Oblivious to the war that had ensued because of him, he was soon fast asleep.

One of the boys commented to Yash, 'What, you think you are Mahatma Gandhi's grandson?' to which, pat came the reply from Yash ' No, maybe You think you are Hitler's descendent'. What is a story without some punch dialogues. 

The story reached the climax, with Vickram separating the warring parties and making Yash understand that all was well, as Oreo was unhurt. That it was now time to ensure that nobody else got hurt either.

As an audience, I'm elated (as you can imagine)! The biggest take away for me is that Yash is growing up to be a kind, caring child who does not hesitate to stand up for someone in need. It shows me that he is empathetic. I've got a similar feedback from his teachers as well during the parent teacher meet. As per his teachers, he usually is very kind, helps others in schools and stays away from any sort of fight. I get worried sometimes that he should not become a push over, but incidents like Oreo's prove that he can stand up for himself if need so arises.

From when he was about 3 yrs old, he has been fascinated with super heroes like all children. We, as parents, had told him that Yash's super power was 'Kindness' and 'Laughter'. We would tell him stories where he was the hero who spread kindness and laughter and thereby killed the evil. We have been insistent that he understands the others' point of view.

In the last few months however, I'm seeing him struggle with controlling his emotions and showing his anger. I've seen that he gets angered a lot, but his anger is at injustice (when a friend cheats) or cruelty (like the Oreo incident). I believe that this is a journey he has to take and learn to cope with the problems he faces. My heart goes out to the little boy who is trying to control his anger at another in an attempt to be kind but, it does come out as tears. This struggle will be good for him and he will be more emotionally mature because of it. Either way, we have a boy who is in touch with his emotions and that drives him to be a better person.

We must be doing something right, don't you think?