Today at Fred Meyer we were having a great time. We walked around, played with the bikes, bounced the ball. Then a bike fell slightly over and North began to cry. What happened next was exceptional. He did that thing they warn about, an escalating explosion of crying, anger and fear.
It was the most upset I've seen him since he was born. Beyond mad at me for taking him from something he liked, this was off the deep end in terms of upset to where it seems fearful to him.
He was grabbing at me, not hostile, but trying to wrap his arms around me. I hugged him while leaving him still seated in the cart. He got steadily more upset. I finally got not-stupid and took him out of the cart, and what I did next was just the right thing. I held him like when he was a week old, and rocked side to side, no hurry, no talking, and did it for over 5 minutes. Within the first minute he was quieter, and then he just went all relaxed and kept his arms around my neck.
He has gotten more mature in the last few months, and most of the time understands "no" and can be expected to understand talking to. But what happened today took a rapport more like when he was a few weeks old.
After he stopped crying it was one of the best moments in my life. I held him for a long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment