Follow[Originally written in 2004, as an entry to a family blog. Enjoy.]
This weekend we were all discussing how young children don’t connect logic with desire. Our 5-year-old for example. She has a little Clifford the Big Red Dog radio with headphones. Saturday afternoon she wanted to listen to it, but we were fresh out of AAA batteries and it needed some. Even after we explained to her that we didn’t have the batteries she needed, she continued to whine, “But I want to listen to my Clifford radio!” “Kirsten, there’s nothing I can do right now. I’ll get you some batteries at the store, tomorrow.” “But I want to listen to it now!” This of course was followed by 10 minutes of tears. It’s great, really, that she can be so passionate. But when she gets that way, there’s no room for logic. Passion and logic don’t go together do they? She was telling me that she couldn’t and she wouldn’t understand why, she just wanted to listen to the radio. I responded by getting irritated, and it didn’t help.
I think we’re the same even as adults when something catastrophic hits. Think of how it is when we lose a loved one. You know they’re gone and there’s no way to get them back. But you still want them back. Even if your beliefs tell you that you’ll see them again one day, you still want them back right now. Suddenly you’re 5-years-old again. And the only thing that matters is you and what you want.
This is what passionate beings do, and I think it’s important to feel that way. So the next time Kirsten wants something I can’t give her, and she can’t accept why, it will be different. Instead of telling her I don’t want to hear it anymore, I’m just going to hug her and tell her that I’m sorry. That I’m here for her, and that I love her. For her, and for all of us, the understanding can wait until later.