It was one of those moments when a mother feels like aliens have landed. We were walking from the playground to the pizza place. The sun was shining, kids were skipping. All of a sudden one little boy throws himself down and whines, "No like this block." That was followed by a scream and few kicks to a poor old oak tree.
Huh?
Now this could have turned into a really bad scene. Many a time, when faced with this inexplicable mood change, I've tried to find the reason only to be given a series of cries and mumbled reasons why "this" (be it a block or a story or a sneaker...) is "bad." I've also made the mistake (more times than I ever care to admit) of reacting with anger. Get off the ground. Stop crying. Do you want me to take away your Thomas Trains until you're 35?
This time, though, I had a little grace on my side. I immediately realized that maybe there was just a lot happening for the little guy today. Maybe he was overwhelmed which made him sad or scared or tired or unable to move. So we stopped. I got down to eye level with my son -- who is currently caught between the toddler and the preschool years when everything, except his baby brother, is bigger than him and he never gets to control anything around him.
"I think it's time for a piggy back pokey," I told him, referring to the silly routine we did on the way to drop off the first few weeks he started nursery school.
I got a half smile. Then he climbed on my back and we started up the block again, singing at the top of our lungs the Hokey Pokey, throwing our hands out and turning around in circles. My 5-year-old led the line, followed by a stroller, mommy with one hand on the stroller and one on her oldest son's back.
Score one for the power of a happy kids' song to diffuse the situation.
image © Getty Images