I tend to forget that my children are people. Though they may not be up to the same level of thought processing as their elder counterparts, they sure do hold the capacity for the same quality and intensity of emotions. The only difference is that we hold our tantrums on the inside - or, sometimes, we unleash them in a hurtful tirade of words which are so much more painful than the crying and kicking utilized by the younger generation.
This is what I forget to take into account. Though we express them differently, her emotions are no less valid than my own.
Sometimes, on those days when all my inhibitions are released and all my ugliness comes flowing out, I need a little extra grace. A tender hug. A reminding that the world is not all bad and, no matter how unpleasant I can be, I am still loved.
And the same is true for her.
Sometimes, what she really needs, rather than another command to eat her breakfast while she sits in her lion-shaped booster seat wailing for no understandable reason, is to just sit in the lap of a loving parent, snuggled under a Slanket watching "Larry and Bob," grasping an empty yogurt cup now filled with dry cereal, alternating between feeding herself and feeding her momma.
Because some days she's just a rougher version of herself. And on days like these, we all need a little extra grace.
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