Yesterday, in the midst of an exhausting weekend (more on that later), I was at Verizon trying to get my malfunctioning headphone replaced. The not-so-bright guy at the counter insisted that I bring in my charger or he wouldn't help me.
I was tired, cranky and told him to please don't make me go back home, this is in the only time I have to do this, I'm a single mom and I can't take care of it during the week. He was totally unmoved.
So I grabbed Rachel, shoved her into the stroller, piled my coat and assorted detritus on her lap, raced to the car and barked at her to hop in the car seat. I went home, stormed into the house to get my charger, came back out and drove back to the mall. Rachel didn't say a single word the whole time except to yelp in surprise and anger at my outburst when it began.
As we pulled into the mall again (for some reason it was impossible to find a parking space), I cut the engine, got out of the car and crawled into the back seat and apologized to Rachel. "Mommy shouldn't have gotten mad. I'm sorry," I said.
She looked at me reproachfully and said, "You yell at me. You shouldn't yell at people."
"You're right, Rachel," I replied.
And then she followed it up with:
"I not go away. I love you and I need you."
It was all I could do not to totally dissolve into tears. Somehow, she managed to say the exact right thing just when I needed it. How did she know??
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