We came up with:
Glad to have more just us time.
Glad to have Radio-listening time.
Glad the little kids aren't in the car.
Glad we can park and walk to get our coffee.
Glad the sun was shining.
Glad we got to hold hands.
Glad we got to spend one on one time together.
Glad we got to catch a glimpse of a parade.
Glad we had nowhere uber important to be.
Glad we could talk.
Glad we could find something to be glad about.
It's so easy to find yourself trapped in other people's emotions (particularly, negative emotions.)
And we TALKED about that.
There was a Mom with a young teenage boy in the car behind us. I was in a parking space and had to get out, into the gridlock. I had my blinker on, edged my way in...no one let me in. So I kind of (safely) forced my way in. And she laid on the horn. And she was screeeeeaming at me through her car (because, you know - all those things you say to people from behind the wheel that you would never actually say to people in person..) and I just looked in my rearview, flashed her a big smile and waved "thank you" (a genuine thank you as if I didn't know she was beeping at me).
Layla asked if I was mad at her (for being mad at me).
No, it's not worth my feeling negative and mad about.
I explained that she was just frustrated and, sometimes, when people are frustrated they take it out on other people. That, in fact, most if us have done it. That negative energy has a way of bubbling over and turning into anger. And sometimes that comes out as mean and hurtful words or actions. I asked her if that's ever happened to her before. She said yes. And I asked her how it made her feel.
Did she feel better after saying or doing something mean or hurtful when she was feeling mad?
And she said, "no, it makes me feel bad too." |