hidden meanings

So, I think I've written about the reasons behind melt-downs before. Noah has had so few melt-downs in the past year that I thought we were through with them. Not so.

Let me define melt-down here. Noah's usually begin when he doesn't get his way about something. The other day he was mad because I made him take the elevator with me instead of taking the stairs (we had Molly in the stroller with us!). Last night he was mad because no one was available to duel with him with light sabers. (I was bathing a very tired Molly, and Marc was doing the dishes before heading out to a hockey game.) After we'd said no to him a number of times and explained the reasons, his disappointment got more vocal and his ranting branched out to other areas. Nothing you say can make him happy at this point.

Last night, after complaining very vocally about not being able to duel with anyone, he started in on complaining about the current sleeping arrangements. He wants his old bed back, and he wants Molly to sleep in the crib. He is going to smash the bunk beds to get his way. (I told him that if he did that, he would have to pay me back for the beds since I bought them and that that would take a long time and that he would never be able save up for Star Wars Lego.) So, he was going on and on and on. By this point, I was not answering him anymore. Best to say nothing really. Then he said it. The little clue that made sense of the return of the melt-down. He said, "Lots of things have changed around here". Ah, all at once, everything is so clear. It's about a little guy adjusting to big changes in his life, going to school all day, becoming a big brother for the second time. He is also adjusting to not being the only big kid in the house since Molly is now doing lots of big girl things. Sometimes it just comes together.