It’s what horror movies are made of. You could be anywhere, the mall, a nice quiet restaurant, a park... and without warning, like thunder clouds on a seemingly sunny day, it appears. It’s loud, blood curdling and just paralyses you. what do you do? should you yell back? walk away? Throw holy water on her like some sort of exorcism? I’ve tried it all, everything short of holy water.
My four year old has been surprisingly well behaved during this lockdown. There have been online classes, arts and crafts, singing and dancing, and devouring sweet mangoes that taste like summer. So it was peaceful…until it was not!
Why did it happen? Because I happened upon her hiding place and she did not want to be found!
So the yelling started. Even our dog started to whimper at this small creature who was kicking her legs in the air with the force of a grown man.
How did I react? Well, I yelled back, I shouldn’t have.... even while I was yelling, I knew I should just walk away and eat a cookie or something but like her, I just couldn’t help myself.
And all this unfolded, minutes before an important work call. The first work call since my maternity leave ended, so it was a big call.
After a few minutes of incessant yelling, she suddenly calmed down, wiped her tears and walked into the garden, hopped onto her pink scooter and rode around with carefree abandon. Like none of it ever happened. Did I imagine it? And as for me,I had two minutes to calm the fuck down so I could sound professional and not like a crazy mother who just lost her shit. I succeeded.
And mid call, she slunk into my room, wrapped her arms around my knees and said, “I’m sorry, mama.”
And everything’s peaceful again. Until it’s not.
My four year old has been surprisingly well behaved during this lockdown. There have been online classes, arts and crafts, singing and dancing, and devouring sweet mangoes that taste like summer. So it was peaceful…until it was not!
Why did it happen? Because I happened upon her hiding place and she did not want to be found!
So the yelling started. Even our dog started to whimper at this small creature who was kicking her legs in the air with the force of a grown man.
How did I react? Well, I yelled back, I shouldn’t have.... even while I was yelling, I knew I should just walk away and eat a cookie or something but like her, I just couldn’t help myself.
And all this unfolded, minutes before an important work call. The first work call since my maternity leave ended, so it was a big call.
After a few minutes of incessant yelling, she suddenly calmed down, wiped her tears and walked into the garden, hopped onto her pink scooter and rode around with carefree abandon. Like none of it ever happened. Did I imagine it? And as for me,I had two minutes to calm the fuck down so I could sound professional and not like a crazy mother who just lost her shit. I succeeded.
And mid call, she slunk into my room, wrapped her arms around my knees and said, “I’m sorry, mama.”
And everything’s peaceful again. Until it’s not.
