Screaming

Tonight was a difficult time for Spencer. I think the biggest problem was tiredness. Anyway, we had a little "issue" outside (if you know what I mean), so he had to come in and take a bath instead of going for a walk. He was pretty mad, so he was doing the scream/bawl. I've learned to cope with that in the last couple of years. It wasn't easy. So in the midst of the emotion I reminded him of tonight's family night lesson on following Jesus' example. I suggested that perhaps he could communicate more effectively if he did it as Jesus would. He wailed, "I'm too tired to be like Jesus!!" No kidding!

We also had drama over the cleaning and care of his most recent "owie." He wandered away from me in Walmart today and ended up with a nasty scratch on his leg from some metal junk in the back of the garden center. So tonight I thought we should remove the bandaids and rinse it off. He was incredibly anxious about the procedure and started the scream/bawl all over again. It was quite an ordeal. I started responding to him by mirroring his terror. He then recognized that he was overreacting and laughed, only to freak out again when he looked down and saw the carnage. It was truly a comical moment. I wish I had it on tape for posterity to see. He would scream, "Yucky blood! Yucky blood!" I picked him up to carry him to the kitchen for clean bandaids and he exclaimed, "I'm dead! I'm dead!" How can a parent not laugh at that point?! Anyway, I think he's going to make it as long as he wears long pants.