Oh, the humanity

Lately tears have been the happening thing here at the compound. Everyone has these feelings that I just can't figure out. There will be a toy or a swing that one of the kids wants to play with and then suddenly, everyone wants it. Forget that we usually have a spare somewhere, or that there is tons of other things to do. Mind you, it's just not the kids 'cause occasionally you might catch me curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, but that's another story.

I'm a giggler. I can't help it. It's my defense mechanism. If someone cries I laugh. Not because it's funny, but because that's just how I react, it's my way of dealing with pain. I hurt when one of my kids gets hurt, but I find a way to laugh about it. Laughter is a wonderful healer. I don't panic, I giggle. It eases tensions and occasionally the pain of a scraped knee.

Today it was an argument over the swing. It's big enough to seat two toddlers, and when I last checked on them they were swinging together. But somewhere among all this cuteness and bliss someone decided they no longer wanted to share. There were words, hair was pulled, some shoving, then someone got hit with the swing. Next thing I knew I had two crying toddlers laying in the grass under the swing.

I went out, not rushing -I'm not a helicopter parent and I try to let them work it out on their own first -to see if they were injured or just frustrated with one another. Sure enough I laughed. They looked at me with these eyes as though I was poking fun. I laughed and grabbed them both and hugged them, assured them they were just fine and to play nice and share. Off they went to go dig in the dirt together.

unfortunately I missed the dirt digging event today, so here's one from a couple of days ago