Meltdown Man

Our son is generally a pretty sunny kid, and as well-behaved as a pre-schooler can be. However, like all kids, he has his limits, particularly when he's tired. With the flip of a switch, my little sweetie is gone, and Meltdown Man appears.


Where my little darling is agreeable, Meltdown Man is inconsolable. Where my little angel gives me smiles and cuddles, Meltdown Man tells me "You're not my friend anymore!" Where my little peanut can stand upright on his own two feet, Meltdown Man prefers to stretch flat on the floor, or, the weapon on peaceful resistors everywhere, to "go limp".


I never know quite where or when Meltdown Man will make an appearance. His most recent cameo was yesterday, at the daycare dropoff. With the bitter cold, I scooted my little precious inside the daycare doors first, then scooted back to the car to get the baby. In the 30 seconds it took me to get from the car to the door, Meltdown Man showed up.


This instance was prompted by the darn stupid gloves. My son loves to dress up, with different hats and accessories to suit whatever, or whoever, he happens to be at a given time. Today, he did not want to take his gloves off and put them in his cubby, he wanted to wear them into the room to play. As a daycare mom, I've learned the hard way that if it's not in the cubby, properly labelled and put away, you can consider it donated to the daycare. When I said "no way", I got my first hint that Meltdown Man was near.


"Whhhyyyyy?"


When the no was upheld, all hell broke loose. Crying, wailing, burying his head into my leg, and circling it with his arms. Tears, choking sobs, the repeated wail of "But I waaaant to!" Meltdown Man all the way. I was able to navigate down the hallway with the baby in my arms and Meltdown man stuck to my leg, and once we arrived in the classroom, the teachers were able to help me remove him, and distract him with other things. The other children stopped and stared, wide eyed in amazement, at my wailing son.

By the time I got the baby settled in her classroom, Meltdown Man was gone, leaving a wet-eyed but contented boy behind. I kissed my precious angel goodbye, and said a silent thank you that the appearance of the other guy was brief this time. I know he's biding his time somewhere, waiting to strike again, but I do love the moments when Meltdown Man has gone, and my boy is just my boy again.