sooner than expected

It happened today. It was always a question of when, not if, and today was the day. I was sitting on the couch with the kids. We were wrestling and tickling. It was going well until I needed the boys to sit up for a moment so that I could pull Caia up to join us. As I lifted Jem off of me, he looked at me and said, "I hate you."
I always thought the first time one of my kids said that to me it would be in the middle of a huge argument or after I had forbid them from doing something. I imagined emotions swirling around and hoped that I could keep my response in check. But this? This was just sad and strange.
I'm sad that that word has entered our vocabulary so soon. I'm sad that my little boy said it to me. He doesn't understand the full meaning of it, but he knew enough to know that it was unkind. And it was strange to me that it happened over such a small thing. At least it was small in my eyes.
We had a discussion about what it means to say that to someone and how it made me feel. He cried. Not because he felt badly but because he could hear Scooby Doo playing on the tv in the other room and knew he was missing it. I checked.  
The redeeming part is that I was able to moderate my emotions. There was no heated argument or dramatic tears. Just my little boy saying something to me out of frustration and anger. I know it isn't the last time that I'll hear it. People say things when they are angry and hurt. At least, I do. All I can hope for is the ability to receive it with love instead of returning the anger and for my children to have soft enough hearts to regret that their words hurt.

photo by: kraupu   http://www.flickr.com/photos/kraupu/1192096298/