Chaos

Watched a sad incident today between a father and son at a local playground, one that probably occurs several hundred times a day at playgrounds across the country. The boy, maybe three years old, was being carried away in his father's arms, and didn't want to leave the playground or was upset about something else his father was doing. He exploded in rage and frustration, kicking his legs violently. Then he suddenly slapped at his father's chest as hard as he could. The father, embarrassed or perhaps just too tired to react, rolled his eyes and continued walking.

Childhood is so full of small disasters...What we can hope is that we are fully present, as parents, during those moments. Easier said than done, I know.

I'm not sure if it was the mother talking, or a friend, but a woman said, watching the boy throw his tantrum: "One moment he's happy and calm, the next moment he's a devil child." Chilling language, thrown out casually at a children's playground.

Veteran's Day. My husband's watching a program about valiant soldiers. War is, to me, largely an exercise in stupidity and chaos, no matter how courageous the soldiers are.

Childhood is not (by any means) a war, but the desperation a child feels when things are out of control in his little world must be similar to the desperation a soldier feels when things are out of control on the battlefield. Will we be able to step in, as parents, and impose something like order, grace, clarity? Just as a soldier, taking the right action to protect his fellow soldiers, imposes some kind of order, no matter how crazy the circumstances?

Don't know. But tomorrow will be absolute chaos if I don't get to bed.