The Growth of a Tantrum
Aug. 24th, 2005 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
She wakes and she stumbles, rubbing her eyes
Looking for mama - but to her surprise
I'm not where I ought to be.
Maybe I moved.
Maybe I've gone for good, left her unloved!
Maybe I've walked away, maybe I've died -
Maybe I'd come if she cried - cried - cried - CRIED!
So she cried, and I came, and I held her to me
And she howled her betrayal and stood on my knee
And she thrashed with her fists and she kicked with her toes
And at some point her skull came in touch with my nose
As her face turned more purple and my bruises showed through
And she arched until there was nothing I could do.
I put her down gently. I laid her right back
On a quilt on the carpet, so she could have her attack
In safety and comfort. Well, safety will do.
I waited until her frustration was through
And she turned to despair.
Oh, the howling despair!
Her tears ran right down from her eyes to her hair,
And onto the carpet, and into her ears,
And I held her again, and I kissed up her tears.
I sang her a song. I clapped her a game.
I sang her a song which repeated her name.
I played with her tummy, and tickled her toes,
And at last I could hear, from her red, running nose,
A forgiving sniff, and I saw a small smile
And I knew that we were, for the next little while,
OK friends. Good companions. Reasonably happy.
So then I spoiled everything.
I changed her nappy.
Looking for mama - but to her surprise
I'm not where I ought to be.
Maybe I moved.
Maybe I've gone for good, left her unloved!
Maybe I've walked away, maybe I've died -
Maybe I'd come if she cried - cried - cried - CRIED!
So she cried, and I came, and I held her to me
And she howled her betrayal and stood on my knee
And she thrashed with her fists and she kicked with her toes
And at some point her skull came in touch with my nose
As her face turned more purple and my bruises showed through
And she arched until there was nothing I could do.
I put her down gently. I laid her right back
On a quilt on the carpet, so she could have her attack
In safety and comfort. Well, safety will do.
I waited until her frustration was through
And she turned to despair.
Oh, the howling despair!
Her tears ran right down from her eyes to her hair,
And onto the carpet, and into her ears,
And I held her again, and I kissed up her tears.
I sang her a song. I clapped her a game.
I sang her a song which repeated her name.
I played with her tummy, and tickled her toes,
And at last I could hear, from her red, running nose,
A forgiving sniff, and I saw a small smile
And I knew that we were, for the next little while,
OK friends. Good companions. Reasonably happy.
So then I spoiled everything.
I changed her nappy.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-24 10:19 pm (UTC)Such a perfect description of how we, too, get through the day, some days.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-25 07:11 am (UTC)That was great, I loved it. All of it, but especially the tale of your perfidy at the end.
"So then I spoiled everything..."
Date: 2005-08-25 08:04 pm (UTC)argggg*g*h! - as others've sagely said, in countless other contexts,
timing is everything
The Groth of a tantrum
Date: 2005-08-26 03:45 pm (UTC)Particularly the end.
Inger
no subject
Date: 2005-08-26 08:29 pm (UTC)paradox
no subject
Date: 2005-08-26 09:36 pm (UTC)"He needs his nappy changing"
"But he's so upset!"
"So, he can't get any worse..."
no subject
Date: 2005-09-07 08:28 pm (UTC)The bit she objects to is putting a new one on.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 08:25 am (UTC)Sometimes it takes both of us to get a clean nappy on the boy's bottom. We are CROOL and hold him down...
no subject
Date: 2005-08-31 01:15 pm (UTC)(Oisín hasn't had a proper tantrum yet.)
Growth of a Tantrum
Date: 2005-09-07 09:50 pm (UTC)