Monday, December 28, 2015

It Wasn't About the Pencils

Anger and hurt in children can come out in many different ways. Sometimes it doesn’t appear to be connected to the original source. These emotions may be displaced onto other situations and other people. Usually there is a thread of connection but we may not be able to see it.

I was so upset. I was yelling and screaming and I didn’t care. Jamie was teasing me by copying everything I did and everything I said. I was so mad. I told Jamie to stop it. And when I told him to stop it, he said, “Stop it.” That made me madder.
Mommy bought six pencils at the school store. Jamie told her he only wanted the rainbow colored pencil and didn’t want the others. When I told mommy I would take the other pencils, Jamie said he wanted them. We couldn’t agree on which color pencils each of us would get. I wanted the pencils he wanted just so he couldn’t have them. And he wanted the pencils I wanted so I couldn’t have them. We were being mean to each other. Mommy tried to work it out, but we wouldn’t let anything work. She made a lot of suggestions. Me and Jamie said, “No” to everything mommy suggested.
Later, mommy and I were talking. I told her I was upset because daddy was only going to take me for one sleep over this week and not two, like he usually does. I love seeing daddy and wish he still lived with us. When I can’t see him I get so upset, sad and angry. Before when I was screaming and yelling, maybe it wasn’t because I wanted the pencils. Maybe, it was because I couldn’t see daddy for two nights this week.

Introduction to Children's Stories about Divorce

What do children say when their parents are divorcing? How do they deal with the divorce of their parents? Within this blog are stories that children have told me about divorce. These stories illustrate what happens to children when there is a divorce in their family. They can also help us understand about the psyche of children and different ways that they deal with stressful events in their lives.