Empathy

So the Gremlin - as devious and frustrating as he is -- contains a surprising ability to empathize with anyone over anything. Case in point - my wife broke one of her prized Mexican fruit bowls this afternoon. She was pulling a pan out from the top of our pot rack when a lid that was on top of the pan she was moving slipped down and landed cracked the medium sized green bowl into 4 nice pieces.

The Gremlin, more surprised by the sound than anything else, jumped and looked over at his mother. It was only after she gasped and picked up the broken bowl and pieces that the ear-splitting Cry of Despair started. And then the Gremlin chimed in too. Even when his mother was only mildly upset, he started bawling:

"I WANT MOMMY TO FIX IT RIGHT NOW!" he wailed, tears streaming down his face, his sad little finger pointing at the offending pieces. It was only after we'd promised him we would get some Super Glue and put the pieces of the bowl back together that he finally stopped bawling.