E is for Emotions

Any given day our emotions can range from joy to sadness and appreciation to anger.  If you want to see how easy it is to go from crying to laughing you need only to look to those tiny beings in your household to see just how quick the transformation can be.

Yesterday was rough, my 4 year old is one of those children that experiences big emotions;  Big happiness, big frustration, big love, big anger and big sadness.  In his moments of big anger he says many things that if I didn’t have a thick skin, I’d be crying all the time.  Some of the most common words spoken in his anger and frustration are  “You’re not my dad/mom anymore,” “I’m not a part of this family anymore” or “I will never be your friend.” Yesterday was no exception.

What started out as a normal temper tantrum of not wanting to eat digressed into an intense anger that left him out of control.  “I don’t need a mom anymore!”  I wasn’t really phased by his words as I have been accustom to hearing them before, but this time I decided to entertain the idea with him.  Once he had calmed down a little bit I began asking him questions.

“Do you know what it would mean to not have a mom anymore?”

No comment from my son, he just sat on our bed staring at the wall.

“You wouldn’t have me around to read you books or make your snacks for school.”

Silence from my son.

“I wouldn’t be around to cheer you on when you ride your bike or play video games.”

Still more silence.

“I wouldn’t be there to play with you, give you hugs or kisses before bed or listen to your stories.”

I really didn’t think he was getting it until his eyes began to well up with tears.

“Is that what you would really want, no mom to give you hugs and kisses and be around to love you no matter what?”

At this point the silence was broken by a cry so deeply filled with sadness, I was shocked.  I was so shocked that I found my own tears streaming down my face.  We just looked at each other crying, it was like a cheesy scene from a movie.  A couple minutes later he got up and left our room emerging with his stuffed polar bear and my lazy floating birthday balloon.  He climbed up onto my bed and without speaking any words handed me his polar bear and my balloon.  I looked at him and told him I loved him, and his tears started up again.  I pulled him over and gave him a bear hug and we both sobbed in unison.  I have never seen him so impacted by an idea, for such a “live in the moment child” he really seemed to be grappling with the idea of loosing mom.

I am incredibly grateful for moments like these that remind me that my son is more than just a child who has troubles listening or gets so angry he leaves a tornado of destruction behind him.  I am his mom, no one else can take my place.  No grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend will love him the way I do.  He may never know or understand how much I love him, but yesterday he got a
glimpse of it.

I am not a perfect parent, but I do have big love for my family.