Feelings & Parenting

She grabbed the toy straight out of his hands. He looked you dead in the eye and said he didn’t do it — evidence still in his fist. She woke up swinging at the whole world over nothing you can find. And you feel that familiar fork in the road: do I correct this, or…

The cracker broke in half. You handed it over the same way you’ve handed over a thousand crackers, and your child stared at the two pieces like the world had ended — and then it did end, loudly, on the kitchen floor. Or it was the wrong cup. Or you peeled the banana “wrong.” Or…