Question: What do you do when your four year old child is acting up?

And I mean, really acting up? It’s so hard not to get sucked into the vortex of this intense little person’s rage. If it’s scary for onlookers, imagine what it must be like for her.

That’s the compassionate response.

But when you’re in a car (luckily, as a passenger) and she throws something at you, it’s hard to be calm, cool and compassionate. You might say a bad word or, rather, shout a bad word. The shout may have verged on screaming.

So I didn’t win Mother of the Year for my reaction to her throwing a plastic toy at my face.

Who knows if she was even aiming for my face? I doubt it. She just throws things when she’s pissed off. And she’d just had her flu shot, so she was robo-pissed. And did I mention we’re also in the process of moving into a new house?

Upon reflection (which you never have at the time, of course) this makes the compassionate response seem pretty obvious and necessary.

Oh well, better luck next time. And there will be a next time.