love is… dancing in a thunderstorm

My toddler niece, R, hurled a toy in the air and received a stern rebuking. While my brother stated the hazards of her actions in his “big voice” she came by my side.

JNET: “Did you say sorry?”

She nodded “no” and shrugged her shoulders.

JNET: “You’re meant to say sorry right away when you know you did something naughty. Next time… okay?”

Fast forward several hours into another brother’s home where he was using his “big voice” and reprimanding his daughter – letting her know that cell phone and internet privileges are being suspended…

R: “Somebody’s crying.” My niece reported acting leader of a trio of toddlers. I followed her to the bedroom around the corner. Their older cousin lay on her bed crying. She covered her eyes with a pillow I recognized from when she was a baby herself.

P: “Don’t cry.” One of the babies said in that high baby pitch pixie voice that charmed me despite the somber space. The babies gathered around their older cousin and comforted her with pats.

JNET: “You know your dad is very fair with what he said. He’s adores you and wants the best for you. You need to be stronger and your dad wants you to bump up how you are handling responsibility.”

She stopped crying then. Her mom came in and told the toddlers to follow but they stayed because the leader of their pack wanted to remain for the conversation. M got up to blow her nose.

P: “That was a lot.” Her pixie voice broke the silence with her observation. The babies looked at each other in agreement and then looked at their older cousin and then shrugged their shoulders. The situation seemed under control. The crying had ended.

JNET: “Okay I think you know what you need to do. Do what your dad asked. We’re going to go downstairs now. Everyone give M a hug.”

They lined up and gave her a hug and then I led the troop of toddlers to continue their play downstairs.

Within a couple of hours, both my brothers were on a project building something for the house. M handed over her phone to her dad and the trio of toddlers were bouncing on the couch cheering the dads on saying…

“We love daddy. We love daddy.”

It a full family day, we weathered a day of sunshine and rain, birthday cake and a bit of mess… the lightning flashed and thunder roared and I felt proud to see that love is… love happens… even in thunderstorms.

JNET

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