By P. Berman, K. Hecht, & A. Hosack
Did anyone see anything?
The police go systematically through the restaurant, talking to people who are still eating and talking to the staff. Several people come forward. The waitress was about to go over to their table and witnessed Larry reach towards Claire and punch her in the face. The couple sitting at the next table hadn’t seen the punch but were shocked as they watched Larry drag Claire out of the restaurant. The woman sitting directly behind Larry heard him using crass language towards Claire. The police have what they need and leave to arrest Larry for assault.
Davy is asleep when Claire gets home so she doesn’t have to explain what happened to her face right away. She is feeling so tired and worn-out. Mrs. Carson tucks her into bed with an ice bag on her face. Despite her pounding head, Claire smiles at Mrs. Carson; it is so wonderful to have people like the Carsons who care about her; her parents would have asked what she had done to deserve a black eye.
Before she falls asleep, she decides to tell Davy she just fell and got some ouchees. When his crying wakes her up, her face is still throbbing, but her headache has gone away. Davy wanted to touch her face. When she flinched as he touched the bruises, Davy looked worried and said, “me take care of you, mommy!” Davy accepted her explanation for the ouchees without question and took her hand to help her to the kitchen so she, “won’t fall again.” Claire smiles down at Davy; Larry is wrong about him, this is the second time Davy has tried to look out for her, and he is just a little kid. Her Davy was turning out great – the Head Start teachers thought so too.
Claire does worry that Davy doesn’t listen to her as well as the teachers. She decides that if Davy has the courage to stand up to Larry, she can face her fears and be her own advocate by asking the Head Start teacher for advice. The teacher says that kids often need different things at home than they need at school to behave well. After all, at school Davy sees all the other kids following her instructions while at home he is the only child.
The teacher recommended that Claire not to worry check out the Head Start website for ideas about what might work for Davy at home. There are short articles designed for parents with kids Davy’s age.
Do you know someone with a preschooler who might want some help with guiding the child’s behavior?
Head Start offers help, free to all. There are two examples below:
https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/browse/topic/parenting and some tips about healthy families at https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/...tips-families-series.
Claire looked around at everything. What helped her the most was reading a resource that the Head Start Website sent her about dealing with the angry child; and angry Davy, who was looking more like Larry every day, made her get the most flustered.
If this resource might be good for you, or someone you know, go to: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/...n-how-cope-their-big
Davy was small and he didn’t bite - at least not yet. But small angry kids having a tantrum can fluster even experienced parents.
Comments (0)