Cry If You Want To

I do a fair amount of running defense while I'm with my kids. I make every attempt to go to the store when the kids are aren't too tired or too hungry. I give Asher (and even Harper now out of habit) warnings about changes in our activities so that he has time to transition. I try my best to say no when I really mean no and to set boundaries I intend on keeping. As much as I can, I go throughout the day avoiding circumstances that contribute to tears - sadness, frustration, anger (if kids ever have a warning label before purchasing, future parents really need to be warned about the amount of crying children do. Who knew!). But, sadly, there are moments I can do little about. I am just not able to change such things physical laws (big cups don't fit in small cups) or to give up rules about where we eat and when we go to bed or to be an indentured servant/pack horse to my children.

Harper has been an interesting lesson in crying. In recent weeks, I've noticed that every now and then, after countless and ineffective efforts of to help relieve her tears, if I let her have a full out fit (lying on the floor, screaming, turning lovely shades of pink, shouts of "no" and "mummy," tears streaming down her cheeks), she recovers and is in a better mood than before she started. Which leads me to think that sometimes, we just have to let it out - a little watering can lead to beautiful flowers.