Never Underestimate
佚名 / Anonymous
This story happened sixteen years ago. My son is now 22 years old， but when I look at him even as a grown man， I remember the small child with the tears.
We had a female cat who was ready to give birth to her kittens. And like all young children， my son was curious and excited to see the birth of these new babies. I felt he was old enough to view this miraculous event. So I answered all his questions and prepared him the best I could so he wouldn’t be shocked or scared.
The night the blessed event took place， one kitten had been born by the time my son arrived home from school. He was so thrilled and amazed at what he saw. He would lay his hand on the mother cat’s belly and feel the other kittens moving and awaiting their turn to be born. When the mother cat began to yell very loudly， it was clear the second was on its way.
My son watched but never said a word. When the second kitten was born and the mother was busy taking care of it， preparing for the next， my son asked me， “Mommy， how come she cries so loud when the baby comes？” In my delight of having my son wanting to view this miraculous event and thinking I had prepared him for it， I had not thought to explain about the pain of giving birth. Not wanting to take anything away from the miracle he was witnessing， I tried to explain to him that it was not a hurtful pain but a pain of great pleasure for the mother cat， knowing her babies would soon be born.
When the birth of the third kitten became obvious by the crying of the mother， I glanced at my son to offer words of comfort if he showed signs of it becoming too stressful for him. When I looked at his face， he had tears rolling down his cheeks. So I asked him why he was crying and he looked up at me and said， “Mommy， I’m sorry I gave you all that pain to have me.”
I thought my heart had stopped. It was all I could do to contain myself from grabbing him and just holding him close to me， but I knew I couldn’t have him thinking that his birth was something that caused me pain in the way he was thinking. With a careful choice of words and reassurance， I told him his birth has done nothing but brought smiles to my life and that I would go through it 100 times—that the pain meant so little compared to the joy of having him.