C. did a very noble thing this Fall.

When he went in for his 8-year checkup in September, the doctor pronounced him sound and of good health and was just about to release us when… the doctor asked how old L. (who was sitting quietly in his carseat nearby) was. “Almost 4 months,” I answered.

“Hmm…” The doctor glanced at the baby, then me, then C., then back at me. “We should think about C. getting a flu shot, since the baby’s too young to get one. You know, with all those germs floating around school… it just might be a good idea.”

C.’s eyes locked with mine. I had mentioned this possibility to him on the way to the appointment. I had a feeling that they might recommend he get a flu shot this year…just as a precaution for L..

C. took a deep breath, looked at the doctor and said, “Okay.”

Now, C. had actually never had a flu shot before, so this meant he’d have to get two - one the day of his appointment and then another one as a booster about a month later. But C. said to me, “I don’t mind doing it for L.. The pain of the shot is a lot less than how bad I’d feel if I gave him the flu.”

I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of him. We work on instilling all kinds of positive character traits in our kids and to see this particular one - self-sacrifice, a willingness to suffer a little pain for the good of someone else - was so heart-warming. My eyes were brimming with tears when he got that first shot, and then again last week when he got his booster.

(He claimed that the shots didn’t hurt a bit, but I rewarded him with special treats for both shots anyway.)

We all have many opportunities every day to make little sacrifices. We make dinner for our families even after a long day with a screaming baby, when we’d rather climb into a bubble bath. We try to make sure our husband’s first minutes at home are pleasant despite the fact that we had a miserable day at work ourselves. We clean bathrooms and fold t-shirts and make dentist appointments ad nauseum. We drag ourselves out of bed in the morning when we’ve got nasty head colds, just to make sure everyone gets off okay. We endure sleepless nights, soccer games in the rain, a crick in the neck from not moving when our kids fall asleep on our laps.

They may be little things, things that don’t hurt much at all, but they - like C.’s willingness to get a flu shot or two - show our love. They reveal our hearts. And they are the building blocks of this thing we call “family.”

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Little update: I received so many kind and encouraging comments on this post - thank you! And following advice from a few of you, I’ve submitted this post to this week’s Pass the Torch Tuesday.