[email protected]

In a message dated 8/23/2004 10:04:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
Very cute. Yes. *Something* is wrong. But nothing is REALLY wrong,
meaning VERY wrong. See my original, carefully chosen wording please.
**********I wasn't trying to be cute.
I will attempt to be clearer, nothing is really wrong TO YOU. To the child,
the end of a movie IS *really* wrong. Saying goodbye to something, whether it
is Grandma going home after a stay, a gently caught toad int eh yard that has
to be release, or Elmo "leaving the room", can be extremely difficult and
emotionally wrenching.
To the one experiencing the emotion, it is REAL.************



She is not in physical pain from an injury. She is not starving. She is
not scared. She is not lonely or neglected.
******* she may well be lonely for Elmo*********
I am there for her if she
wants a hug.
**********Maybe she is crying because she really wants a hug, from
Elmo**************


Part of the reason why DH found her outburst amusing and cute, rather
than disturbing, is because he knew nothing MAJOR was wrong. If she fell
and smashed her head open on the concrete steps in front of our house,
his response to her crying (and her cry itself) would have been much
different.

-Vijay
************Of course!
I myself have had to hide quite a few grins from my kids, but as my
understanding of them grows, so does my empathy towrd their feelings. I believe that in
their minds, at the beginning of their emotion, when they first realized
whatever it may be that is upsetting them, this issue *is* major. It hurts. They
are crying. To me, that isn't really amusing anymore.
Clear as mud, huh? :o)
Elissa Jill
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you;
They're supposed to help you discover who you are.
~Bernice Johnson Reagon


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]