"I'm Not Worried..."

The little guy does not like me to leave.

Sometimes, when I leave and come back, he feels angry with me.

Once I label his feelings, however, he feels more at ease and returns to his usual affectionate self.

Tonight we went out to dinner. The last time we ate out, I left with the big boys and Lee drove him home. He was nervous that this was going to happen again.

"Kaari? You stay with me?"

"Yes, Little D, I'm staying with you."

"You leaving?"

"No, I'm not leaving. We will drive home together. Are you worried that I will leave with the big boys again?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry. We only have our class on Monday and today is Friday. We are all staying together."

"Oh ok."

Then we sang the days of the week song and I made a mental note that I need to create that picture calendar for him.

On our way home, Little D was pretty quiet, listening to his favorite songs: "Tractor Tractor" and "Who's Got the Ball."

Then, as we approached home, we had this conversation:

"Kaari?"

"Yes, Little D?"

"You are staying with me?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I am staying with you."

"Kaari is staying with me. I'm not worried."