Sometimes when our son Emet is angry he begins to speak about himself in the third person. And when he’s really upset, we don’t even get called Mom and Dad. “Emet is feeling angry at Jeff and Sherre.” Eden also has her own way of venting at us. Her imaginary friends, Bunky and Maya often feel upset at Jeff and Sherre. Luckily Alia is barely talking so we are not the object of her disdain at the moment - at least verbally.
I know that for a six and four year old, getting anry is can be confusing. Telling us directly may be too hard, so it’s not me, it’s “Emet” or “Bunky.” They worry we’ll be angry or that they will get in trouble. And while we keep telling them that they are allowed to be angry and that we are ok with how they’re feeling, they don’t quite believe us yet.
And really, who can blame them. The other day I was having a conversation with a friend and she was giving me some “constructive” criticism. I’ve been a little short on patience lately with my mom’s illness and a lot of travel for work. Could I just say, “Sherre is feeling like she wants you to shut up.” Would my friend say that I am entitled to be annoyed and that she is ok with it?
Could I blame my kids? They learn from me, couldn’t I have learned this from them? Would it cause a laugh or destroy a friendship? Don’t answer. I know the answer. Maybe that is part of the difference of being an adult and being a child. You know when to hold back. If you have to let it out, you can’t blame your imaginary friend or third self. You have to own it.
Given the craziness of the past few weeks, I’ve had to own more than a few things - things I have said, things I have done. I’ve started to being sentences by apologizing for anything inappropriate I might accidentally say. Maybe it’s time for a few imaginary friends of my own.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Family, kids.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Sometimes when our son Emet is angry he begins to speak about himself in the third person. And when he’s really upset, we don’t even get called Mom and Dad. “Emet is feeling angry at Jeff and Sherre.” Eden also has her own way of venting at us. Her imaginary friends, Bunky and Maya often feel upset at Jeff and Sherre. Luckily Alia is barely talking so we are not the object of her disdain at the moment - at least verbally.
.jpg)
