Thursday - Mourning Christmas

Today on my drive into work, I was thinking about the fact that I have finally figured out why my two-year-old son has been acting out so much these past couple of weeks. After several months on the wagon for cannibalism, where he had given up his compulsion to sink his teeth into human flesh, he has relapsed. I ounce again find myself signing "Incident Reports" when I pick him up from daycare. On four occasions in the past two weeks, my son has taken out his frustrations on the skin of his little classmates, who either had the audacity to try to take a toy away from him, or to be playing with a toy that he wanted to take away from them.

"He's just been different lately,” his teacher told me, "He pushes. He throws things. He won't help pick up toys. He's never been like that before. Sometimes kids sense when there is a problem at home and act out here. I was just wondering, is there anything going on at home?"

I told her that home is no more chaotic than usual. His father and I get along fine, and there have been no change in our routine. I had no idea what might be affecting my son so much.

Eventually, it clicked. Something did change 2 and a half weeks ago: Christmas went away.

( Longing for 365 Days of Christmas )