Henry wants to do the right thing.

Yesterday I asked Henry to go into a store and get something for me while I waited outside with the dog. He performed this task so admirably—I could see him through the store window, saying please and thank you in all the right places, while the guys behind the counter grinned down at him—that when he returned and handed me my change, I said, "You keep it." It was a dollar. He was shocked. A dollar? He could buy out the toy store with this wealth! Buy all the Hershey bars in the universe!

We walked half a block, debating the merits of spending vs. saving. We were waiting outside the grocery store for Scott, and as we stood there, Henry said hello to a homeless man asking for change. Then he handed him the dollar. They exchanged a high-five. Henry walked back to me and said, "That was totally worth it—he was such a nice guy." I waited for him to ask for another dollar, but he never mentioned it again.

Scott came out of the store and we made our way home. Along the way, we talked about homelessness and poverty and inequality and what Henry could do to change things. He's got some big ideas, people. Wait until you hear.

Comments

[Jill]

This post makes my heart smile. My 4yo is all about what he doesn't have and what he wants to get next and it's so frustrating to me because how do you convince a 4yo that it's not the end of the world that he doesn't get Trix cereal every time we go to the grocery store (or ever) or that just because there's a commercial for it on TV, doesn't mean he has to have it or that a trip to Target to buy a birthday gift for one of his friends doesn't mean he gets a toy too. I'm glad to see that it's possible to "grow out of" this phase and I hope mine figures that out sooner rather than later!

[nelking]

This is my favorite part of parenting.

The phase where your questioning what kind of human your molding and then they go and really show you.

[Adrienne]

That story actually brings tears to my eyes. What a good kid.

[Shelley Greenberg]

OMG that is the sweetest story. I was already liking the part about him being sweet and going into the store without complaining and being polite to the cashier. Then I was loving how you let him keep the change and taught him a lesson about being polite and good - it pays off. But then the whole giving the dollar to the homeless man and giving him a HIGH FIVE part?! Priceless.

You've got a good kid there, no doubt about it.

[famousamy]

All I can think is awwwwwwwwwww.. what a great kid!

[feefifoto]

Oh, you've got a keeper there.

[liz]

You're raising a good kid there. Polite, generous, caring, and happy to be polite, generous, and caring.

[Kizz]

Henry is marvelous.

[liz]

My son's name is Henry, too, and he's only 10 months old, so I get a kick out of imagining my Henry in your Henry's stories (which is truly an exercise in imagination because I can't believe he's going to actually turn into a real person who talks about things and likes Legos and stuff. Crazy!). Anyway, this is so sweet and made me tear right up. I like your kid!

[Carrie]

These moments are our annual bonuses, huh? Save this one!By the way, I think what you did by giving him the dollar unexpectedly is a good tactic, even if you didn't think of it that way at the time. I try to make all "payoffs" to my kid unexpected and ALWAYS unrelated to any kind of persistent whining. I don't usually buy them anything, but every once in awhile, if they ask politely or don't ask at all, and the answer is YES, they're so happy and they know the bounty comes from a random God whom they can't control.

But I realized I might have gone a little too far when I took Nutmeg to Kmart recently and I bought her a can of Campbell's tomato soup at her request and she was over the moon with joy. Not that I don't feed her but I don't usually honor grocery shopping requests, at least not in a timely manner. We probably got some weird looks at that Kmart.

[Meredith]

So sweet. That's a great kid you've got there.

[Spedrson]

Awesome! My little guy is 6 and completely self absorbed right now so your story gives me great hope!

[Sadie]

That is pretty amazing. I probably would have cried.

[Jen]

I love Henry. I'm already married, but I'm hoping to have a daughter some day. Do you think we could arrange some sort of, you know, marriage?

Too far? Yeah, I thought so. But, you can't blame a girl for trying.

[Lisa]

Well, I'm just busting my buttons for you! Sometimes parenting just drags the stuffing out of you bit by bit and then they go and show you why you had those little people in the first place - to make the world a better place. Way to go, Henry!

[Kayla]

This story makes me less afraid to bring kids into this world some day. Great kid, great job parenting.

[Hope]

What a cool little dude! Can't wait to hear his ideas - we definitely needs some!

[bklyn76]

henry is awesome. he makes me a proud brooklynite.

[Jennifer]

That is very awesome.

[chiquita]

Wow. that has to be one of the best all time parenting moments. I dread my kid being old enough to ask about homelessness. I know she's going to ask what we are doing about it, and I'm not sure I have an answer.

[madge]

That made me well up. Good man, H.

[Dana]

I totally teared up reading that. What an awesome, proud moment.

[midwife Jen]

*melt*

[Leslie in Toronto]

Henry just totally restored my faith in humanity. Truly.

[Frogdancer]

It's moments like this that make everything so worthwhile. You've got a great kid. (My boys are older. I went to bed last night and while I was asleep they loaded the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen. It was such a lovely surprise to wake up to today.)