This 2-year-old's Conscience

Kai pushed his 9-month-old cousin Corbin away from his toys earlier today and was taken upstairs by his father to have a talk about his behavior. Then he came down, apologized to Corbin, and promised not to hurt him again. To us adults, we thought the incident ended there and then, when in fact, it had a much bigger impact on this sensitive 2-year-old than we could ever imagine.

It was way beyond his usual bedtime, but Kai was still tossing and turning right next to me. With the unborn child doing somersault in my belly, my patience was quickly running thin.
"Kai, you need to settle down and go to sleep," I said.
In the dark a tiny voice replied, "Kaikai sad."
"Why are you sad, Kai?"
"Kaikai sad... Talk Daddy."
"You're sad and you want to talk to Daddy?"
"No. Kaikai sad... because hurt Daddy."
My stomach knotted. "You're sad because you hurt Daddy?"
"Kaikai sad because pushed Corbin... pushed Daddy..."
My stomach turned into a knot so tight that it squeezed tears out of my eyes.
"But after you and Daddy talked, you understood it was wrong to push Corbin, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And you told Corbin you were sorry and will not do it again, remember?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, I think it's okay now. Stop thinking about it and go to sleep, okay?"
Kai didn't answer. He grabbed my left arm and wrapped it around him, "Kaikai need a hug..."
I pulled him closer and kissed the top of his head. "Do you feel better now?"
"Yeah..." he answered.
Through the light coming in from the window, I saw that his eyes were still wide open. "Kai, close your eyes and stop thinking, okay? You really need to go to sleep."
Right before he finally drifted off to sleep, our sensitive 2-year-old said, "Mommy, Kaikai see everything."

I think he meant he was "seeing" everything that happened. I wouldn't go as far as saying that he was reflecting on his actions because I don't know if children his age actually have the ability to "reflect" and if it would be the same as how we understand. I would, however, say that it is pretty damn amazing that Kai is able to process a significant event that happened earlier today (significant because he never had to learn how to behave around younger children) and express his emotions so eloquently. More importantly, I'm pleased and blown away by the immense amount of compassion and empathy he has shown in the conversation. It's like his mind is way more mature than his age, yet he still has to deal with the pitfalls of toddlerhood. Hmm... I like how Bill put it (he was also in the room when the conversation took place). Maybe he can share what he thinks/feels later.