A Bad Day? It’s OK Raising the Barr Weekly Memo: Issue 501

Every Tuesday, our youngest grandson, Bentley, who’s 2, comes over and stays the night. He’s a pleasant kid, loves being outdoors, rarely complains, eats well, plays hard and we have the best time being together with him. Most days…

Yesterday though, Bentley was off his game and came in with an attitude. He was mad, stubborn and crying, if he didn’t get his way, from the moment he stepped inside from the garage. No amount of cajoling, interacting with him, watching truck shows on TV or food seemed to calm or placate him. That was a first.

Clearly, something was infuriating him, and he couldn’t express it. We finally went into the skid and got down on the floor and screeched with him. We pounded and kicked and played his anger game. We shared in his frustration and when we did, he started to come around. Instead of pushing him into what we wanted, we let him guide us into his frame of mind.

This little exercise reminded me that everyone, young and old, has a bad day every once in a while. Our clients, even when all things are going seemingly well, can have a setback that sends them into a tizzy and as hard as we try to bring them around, sometimes they just need time, empathy and understanding to allow them to make their way back.

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