This is a picture of Ben after we dropped his brother and sister off for their first day of school yesterday.

One of the toughest things to behold is your child experiencing pain of any sort, especially emotional turmoil. On the playground after school today (and yesterday), Liam was focusing all of his attention on his two friends from kindergarten, Griffin and Ben Walls, and ignoring his brother. This is excruciating to watch because I know how much Ben must miss Liam now that he doesn't have him to play with during the day- and how much he looks forward to picking him up from school. I remember Lily treating Liam this way and how Liam was so tortured by the exclusion. I guess it is a natural progression of childhood- to move on and want to be with your friends, often more than your family, but God is it difficult for me as a parent.