Poor Simon. He had a really tough day on Sunday, and nothing I could do made him happier. His day started off fine, but he woke up from his morning nap late and on the cranky side and stayed that way for a full three hours.
Lunch didn’t fix it. Singing didn’t fix it. Hugging and kissing and sympathetic talking didn’t fix it. Dancing didn’t fix it. Fresh diapers didn’t fix it. His piano didn’t fix it. Blocks didn’t fix it. Playing ball didn’t fix it. No matter what I tried, the lower lip quickly pushed out, he’d bend over in half, and a spell of sobbing would ensue.
After two and a half hours of this, I insensitively got out my camera to document things. Bad mama! At the time, I just figured that taking a scientific approach beat getting frustrated and impatient with him.
Then something interesting happened. He didn’t perk up immediately, but he didn’t want to be bent over, face on the floor, when the camera was out. While still crying, the howls and screams ended and the emotional intensity dropped quite a bit. After a little crying, some eye-rubbing, and some rather plaintive whimpering, he pointed a little finger at the flash and said “light.”
That was the beginning of a fragile peace that morphed into a thoroughly pleasant evening. By bedtime, I don’t think even Simon could remember that he had been so upset for so long. But I’ll always have my pictures to prove it!