Time to Let the Cry Out
Most nights when we sit down together for dinner, we reflect on our day by naming our A and our Z. A couple of years ago when we were visiting my college roommate and family, we were introduced to this idea. I think their family called it Hi/Lo. My boys renamed it at some point to A and Z. Recently, my sweet Briggs explained his Z. "My Z is that I almost cried in class today. We were watching Ramona. She ran away and when her family saw her again, I had to hold my cry inside. I didn't want to cry in front of my friends." As he finished saying the word friends, he burst into tears. Fighting back my own tears at his sweet story, I responded: "You don't need to hold the cry inside anymore. It's always okay to cry at home." He nodded between sobs and crawled into my lap. I wanted to hug away all his pain. "Feel better?" As his cry tapered off, "Yes, much, much better."