wait a minute

It's been raining a lot here lately.  By this time of year, such rain is a bit unseasonable, but we'll take it.    Sometimes the rain comes down in a deluge, as the heavens open and the thunder rolls.  I keep thinking the barometric pressure might signal Quattro's arrival, but so far Quattro is content to ride out to the storms in utero.

Severe weather season may have passed, but figurative storms and flash floods still pop up around here on what seems like a near daily basis to this enormous/hormonal/preoccupied-about-Quattro's-imminent-birth mama.  Such a mix for Mama probably contributes to the atmosphere that lends itself to these types of disturbances.  Whether it's one of the bambini or all of them, when they get upset and loud about it, the direction of the course of events depends largely on *my* response -- or lack there-of.  Mine is the only response I can truly control, anyway.  It's hugely important for me to do so for my sake as well as theirs, and to model healthy emotional management.

If I've learned anything from the severe storms that come every spring to our part of the country, it's that they hardly ever last very long.  There might be a successive string of them, one after another, each intense and scary and loud, but rarely does one storm have the energy necessary to sustain a prolonged fury.

This seems to be true for bambini storms as well *if* Mama can keep her wits about her and be prudently responsive to the situation.  That might mean letting the storm pass on its own (ascertaining everyone's safety, of course), or by actively seeking out a solution with the one (or several) who are raging.

I would rather quell the tempests before they break, but this doesn't always work out.   While my initial reaction might be to jump in and squelch the outburst, usually this only worsens things.  For me and us, a more reserved response seems more effective in both the long and short runs. 

Riding these emotional roller coasters takes a lot out of me, but it comes with the territory.  To paraphrase Will Rogers, if you don't like the weather...

wait a minute.