For the last week I’ve sat on the edge of my 8 year old son’s bed late at night, watching him sleep and thanking Hashem for letting me be his mother one more day.
In the morning I wake up groggy but grateful to have my little boy another day, and then I take him to his camp, in a yeshiva, and pray to Hashem that he is safe, well cared for, and happy.
Every afternoon I pick him up, relieved to have him back safe. Last night we told him again how grateful we are to Hashem to have been blessed with our little mentch. He’s starting to look embarrassed when we say this. We tell him we’re grateful not just for him, but for the whole family. He still doesn’t know why we’re saying this, and squirms away.
I don’t want to take away his innocence. I also don’t want someone taking it away from him.
Please, Hashem, give me the strength to say what I don’t want to say, but need to say, in order for him to protect himself when I can’t be there for him.
Please, Hashem, let me always be there for him when he needs me to be…