listen

Here's something I'm thankful for, Julia:
You aren't quite two. So sometimes, you lose it. You just do--your face is red, you scream, and a thin, glistening string of saliva drips down your chin. Your eyes say: ANGRY! Your eyes say: NO!
Your eyes say: I WON'T!
Then, just then, I say, "Can I talk to you?" I say, "Can you be quiet for a minute, sweetie?"
And you do. You try. You listen, just for a minute. A lot of times, I can help you understand, and things are not so bad.
Thank you dear one, for trusting me to tell you something worth being quiet for.