Yesterday my two-year-old daughter and I were shopping when we heard another mother threatening and speaking quite meanly to her child. (Poor woman was on the verge of losing it and I have been there myself!)
I moved us away and we went about our day, but my daughter grew increasingly clingy and teary throughout the busy day. At bedtime, she was rolling around, unable to settle, so I held her firmly and said, “I will keep you safe.”
She started to cry on and off, and I tried to remember if anything had happened that might have upset her. I remembered the mother in the store and said, “Oh, that was so scary, wasn't it, when the mommy was mad at her son?” And my daughter started to cry heartily and deeply, crying, “Mommy, mommy, mommy.” After a really long cry (nearly an hour), she settled in for a good sleep, and woke up very cheerful and excited about preschool this morning. A success!
– a Parenting by Connection mom in Ithaca, NY