Ik kan het niet helpen.
My son screamed that he hated me. He also called me a sukkel. If you don’t have kids, you might be reeling back in shock, “Oh dear me!” If you have kids, you’re probably saying, “Uh huh. So what’s the point?”
The point is that five minutes later, he came back to me and apologized and said that he just can’t help it (Ik kan het niet helpen.), that he just gets so frustrated so quickly and it just bursts out of him and that he’s sorry he does it, but he can’t hold it back, it just comes out. He doesn’t often apologize, but this time he did, on his own, no prompting from another parent. It’s progress.
Men in rage strike those that wish them best. — Shakespeare
There are all kinds of tricks to try to help this, but I’m focusing today on the fact that he recognizes, admits and even addresses openly (to me) what he did. I’m so proud of him for that.
I’m not thrilled about being called a sukkel, but if he is learning to deal with his own emotions on his own, it’s great strides and I wanted to remind myself of that here for the future. Which I just did.
I can’t help it. But I’m sorry.
