By K. Hecht, P. Berman & A. Hosack
Humm, I have used the brown and the yellow. What color would be good for ears?
Davy was concentrating hard; his tongue sticking out as he tried to draw carefully what he was imagining in his head. He was at the kitchen table drawing his good daddy- Mr. Carson. Davy had literally dragged a laughing Mr. Carson in from the living room and told him he needed to sit very still until his picture was drawn so that Davy didn’t make any mistakes. Mr. Carson was sitting opposite Davy trying to sit still and keep a straight face as he watched a very serious looking Davy make his “face” emerge on the page. When Davy was finally satisfied, he picked his picture up and said, “How do you like you?” There, facing Mr. Carson, was a huge moon face with a mop of brown hair and circles for his glasses. His ears were sticking straight out and for some reason, Davy had made them orange.
Mr. Carson knew how upset Davy had been about having to draw a Father’s Day picture of Larry. He was very proud to be Davy’s “good daddy” for Father’s Day. He wished he could do something to erase Davy’s memories of Larry so he would never have nightmares again. Such a young child should not have to fear anything, let alone be afraid of his own father. After pretending to study the picture carefully, Mr. Carson changed his serious look to a big smile before saying, “I love it Davy.”
Davy, still in serious artist mode said, “What’s your favorite part Mr. Carson?” “Well, it is very hard to choose but if I have too, I would pick my ears. You made them orange and they look so cheerful.” Davy blushed bright red, “You are the greatest daddy in the world!” Mr. Carson swung Davy around the kitchen and then they both went out the door into the backyard to play, completely forgetting it was almost time for dinner.
What a change! Look at him smile- this is so great!
Claire had been in the kitchen, pretending to clean up, so she could watch the Father’s Day portrait emerge. She had this deep pain in her heart that Davy feared the man she still loved so deeply. Claire didn’t know if this love for Larry would ever die, however, the more she saw how deeply hurt Davy was from experiencing just one abusive incident with Larry, the deeper her commitment was to never letting Larry back in her life; her Davy was not going to be traumatized by his bad daddy every again. Seeing Davy go off so happy with Mr. Carson, Claire felt proud of how she had helped Davy work through this difficult situation.
Mrs. Carson came into the kitchen to see Davy’s picture. “I saw those two men of ours go off into the woods, completely forgetting it was almost time for dinner.” She took one look at the picture of her husband and burst into laughter. “Don’t you laugh at this beautiful work of art. When my son is showing his work at the Art Institute in Pittsburgh, you will be proud to own this picture, Mrs. Carson.” “His picture brings out feelings of joy in me and that’s a great experience to have when viewing art.” Claire laughed along with Mrs. Carson as they got everything ready for dinner.
Wouldn’t it be great if every day could end with feeling like a good parent?
When the day has not gone well, parents can need ideas from others to face the next day ready to support their child’s development. the website healthy children.org has a great page of ideas for parents. To see them go to:https://www.healthychildren.or...-Young-Children.aspx
This blog tells the story of Claire and her son Davy; it will give you a window into Claire’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The people in this blog were created by Dr. Pearl Berman based on her thirty years of experience in the field of child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and exploitation. If there are any similarities between the people discussed in the blog, and actual people who are living or deceased this is coincidental. To catch up on old posts or start from the beginning you can find Claire's Story at https://pearlsberman.com/blog
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