Big Meltdowns in Small Packages

We all seem to hold in our feelings and emotions. We keep and control them, confine and imprison them until they break free. The emotions pour out in a place and time of their choosing and once it starts we seem to lose all the precious control we have exercised for so long.

A young girl I know well lives in a nice house in a smal town. She has a sweet little room with lots of stuffed animals and shares the house with several cats, a dog and a ferret. She allows her parents and her older sister to live there free of charge. She plays with her friends and has sleepovers, takes art and plays sports. She likes school, sings in the church choir and likes to sit and read on cloudy, rainy days. She fights with her best friend who lives across the street and dies when they can't play together. She is as normal and carefree as any girl anywhere. Except for one thing her life is a breeze; her mom is sick and from tme to time has no hair.

So this little girl without any curls sits and worries away. Her stomach hurts and she sleeps fretfully and her dreams are vivid and bright. Its a wonder sometimes she can sleep at night. In the morning she worries that the bus won't arrive, she worries at school that things won't be right and she worries that other little girls won't like her but there is one worry that lives deep inside and never expresses itself. She worries about her Mom.

So it was without great surprise that recently this little girl hit a rough patch. She was in class and couldn't solve a problem so the frustration brought on a few tears, the few tears brought on crying and the crying brought on great sobs. It was then that her teacher helped her calm down a bit and they went and had a chat with another wonderful and sympathetic person who, very perceptively, asked "Is there anything going on in your home?" That is when she spilled her beans and the emotions that were long held inside for so long came out, freed from the confines of her control. It was a meltdown, a big meltdown in a small package.

Her teacher and counselors helped and her cats and the ferret helped too. The stuffed animals were a joy and dad even tried his hand but it was her mom that helped the most. Moms do that so much better than dads and cats and ferrets. Mom reassured her, made her feel safe and secure and the little girl said, very perceptively, "Mom, I think I am woried about you being sick and that's what happened."

So comfort came and the little girl felt better. Perhaps she will be able to remember that comfort the next time that well comes bubbling up. Here is to Mom, may she be around to comfort forever.