You know I am not one for resolutions. Sure I think that they are cute to make, and there are those who can stick to the ones that they make, however I am not one of those lucky people who can do such a task. I seem to do better if I label mine as goals, I have a higher success rate of obtaining goals than I do in sticking to resolutions.

We were at Walmart this afternoon, so that my adopted stepson could spend one of the gift certificates that he received for Christmas this year, that has been burning a hole in his pocket since it was revealed the morning of the twenty fifth. After looking through the electronics section for what truly seemed like forever, he finally settled on two items, paid for them there in the back of the store, and we proceeded to walk to the toy section so his little brother could poke through the things that he was interested in, as a reward for being so patient while his big brother shopped.

While strolling through the toy section, and watching absolutely every brightly colored package catch his little brother's eyes as he excitedly called out of us to come closer and gaze upon whatever new shiny piece of plastic had caught his attention, my adopted stepson began talking about New Year's resolutions. At first he began joking about how that always seems to be the only thing that people could talk about right after the holiday and how one of his resolutions, was to quit listening to everyone else's resolutions, which made me smile as I nodded in agreement.

Then, after just a short pause, he told me that another one of his resolutions was to be nicer to his little brother, and pulled out some Christmas cash from his pocket and motioned towards the toy that his little brother was stretching as far as his little arms could reach desperately trying to grab a small toy which was sporting one of his most favorite cartoon characters. "Would it be alright if I used some of my money to buy that for him?" he asked, while I struggled to gather my jaw up off the floor. I told him that he was welcome to spend his money on whatever it was that he wanted to buy, and he gladly pulled the toy off of it's little metal peg and handed it to his brother, who locked a death grip onto it immediately grinning from ear to ear.

It was so heartwarming to see my adopted stepson making an honest effort to be closer to his little brother, and doing his best to be a good big brother. He honestly is a good big brother, but as more and more days go by the closer he gets to being a great big brother. After we stood in line at the front of the store, for what again felt like forever, to pay for the toy I leaned down and told the little guy that his big brother had bought that toy with his own money, just for him.

He looked up shocked and amazed, and happily said thank you to his big bro, and then in a true fashion all of his own he excitedly inquired "______ has money?" in a tone that seemed to say, 'if that's the case I think I may just like him a little bit more than I thought I did,' and both my adopted stepson had a good laugh over it. The bond between brothers is a special one, isn't it?