Feelings

I forgot to tell you this in the earlier post and if I wait to add it later, God knows that it will be over a week from now when I have 2 more minutes of free time between changing TWO sets of diapers, feeding TWO mouths, and rocking TWO babies...

I have been trying to teach you words for your feelings. When you can't reach a ball and start "huffing", I say, "You are feeling frustrated because you can't reach your ball". When you hurt yourself or do not want Daddy to leave without you and you start to cry, I tell you that you feel sad. When you kick and scream your way to bed I explain to you that you are mad because you want to play. The only one you have really used is "mahhhh" (mad) in which I will tell you "no, that's dangerous" or "no, that's not for owen" and you wave your arm at me and say "MAHHH" and I tell you that you are right; you are mad and you did a good job in telling me. My excitement in the your using the right word USUALLY leads to you smiling, which in turn means that you aren't "MAHH" anymore.

Last night at swim class, between your bouts of crying, I would ask ARE YOU SAD? (silence) ARE YOU MAD? (silence) and then I would say THEN YOU ARE OKAY, LET'S PLAY!!! You would not play. You would hug me tight for a moment and then start crying again. So maybe I need to add the feeling of fear/being afraid? Part of me thinks, Owen doesnt need to know fear. He should feel safe, surrounded by love and good people and good things. BUT... understanding fear is what balances us from getting into a lot of trouble... I digress. I think I will just make "I NEED TO HUG AND TOUCH AND LOVE ON MY MOM FOR AWHILE" a feeling. Because it is. Even when you are almost 30 you will get a feeling that you just need to crawl up on your mom's lap to make life better. (side note: you will be a big guy when you are 30, but my lap is always here for you!)

love, mom