Meltdown

Last night Atticus was in full meltdown mode, and it was a little scary. He's had meltdown moments, but this went on for over an hour, and it wasn't nearly close enough to bedtime. Luckily I have a creative-thinking husband.

It's like Atticus's brain short-circuited and he got caught in some kind of memory loop (to get all sci-fi): he kept sobbing and asking for help putting on his pants, even coming up to me and saying "hep! hep!" So I'd say, "Do you want me to help you put on your pants?" "Yeah!" But as soon as I made a move toward him, he'd freak out and scream "NOOOOO!"

Like I said, this went on for over an hour, him going back and forth like that over putting on or taking off his pants, eating or not eating something, sitting on my lap or not, etc. Twice I calmly took him to his room and put him on his bed with his blankie and pacifier ("passa") and told him that he didn't need to go to sleep, but he couldn't come out until he had calmed down. Once, thinking he was just attention-starved, I snuggled him close and sang to him. Both times he calmed down, but as soon as he tried to talk or move into the living room again, he'd melt into the same cycle.

James and I were both at wit's end, so James decided to take Atticus out somewhere to give me a break. But Atty freaked out about me staying home without him, so I went along. He was still melting down as we put him in the car seat, but once we got in the car and turned up the radio, his sobs lost some steam within a few blocks. By the time we got to Trolley Square, he might have actually smiled.

Miraculously, he remained in a fairly pleasant and cooperative mood while he ran around the mall. He was flat out chipper when we went to Hires for "fwench fwies." Needless to say, he crashed hard when we got home, and he went to bed earlier than normal.

I do love being a mother. And I'm so glad I don't have to do it alone.