Tremendous 2's & Two's

      Two-year-old boys will be tremendous boys. During a rare -for-me grandchild-sitting opportunity, our dare-devil plays ball on the steps, is clearly and fairly warned DANGER, to no avail. I snatch the ball and unsuccessfully try to distract him. He tearfully demands the ball back. DeDe is a softy, but when it comes to grandchild safety issues, I do not yield. I pray for him under my breath, and he eventually points upstairs, seeking binky-time, which equals crib timeout. 

      We take the long climb up the steps together, to his room, to claim our sides of the ring: He takes the crib; I the nearby rocker. Hearing his squeaky, binky calisthenics, I know he needs consoling...

      ... DeDe loves you...

      I begin to remind him of our morning activities, and mention his hands and feet and nose, and then... we imagine tickle tummy together; I giggle energetically, and finally he breaks his silence, giggling too. After 10 minutes of happy-therapy, for both of us, we hungrily head downstairs to eat PBJ's.

      We eat, he studies me, and I keep mostly quiet. After a nourishing sandwich and milk, it is nap time, so we head right back upstairs. I place him into his crib, and he earnestly stretches his arms to me. He trusts me to rock him. I do. After a few minutes I feel his muscle-twitches as he, uncharacteristically, snuggles in my lap... falling sound asleep. Ahhh, priceless.

Flower-powered two fearlessly face the bloomin' tremendous 2's

      Timeout (a/k/a exile), heartache, and clashing wills happen and produce an urgency to seek some sort of closure, and we also need to feel comforted. Life can be painful; it is unfair; we feel hurt by people... and sometimes we even feel hurt by God. How do we respond?