Why My Kid Is Crying

Most of the time, my son’s disposition is all rainbows and sunshine. He runs around the house bouncing off the walls. He smiles, he laughs, he wants to play games

But alas, he is also 2. Which means he is occasionally susceptible to violent mood changes and temper tantrums. These fits can be more difficult to predict than the weather. As a parent my natural instinct is to be there and comfort him. Sometimes I have to shake my head and just marvel at the reasons why my kid is crying.

With a little bit of care, we can return my son to his previous happy state. Sometimes it takes a little longer than his mother and I would like, but on a whole, for parents of a 2-year-old, I’d say we’re lucky.

Some of the crying fits seem to fit into the neat category of what we could call regular 2-year-old logic, and some just don’t. I’ve always meant to take a picture and submit some of this absurd logic to Reasons My Son Is Crying, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I figured I’d start the conversation here.

Here are some reasons for crying that make sense for a 2-year-old (I’m guessing):

• We removed him from the toy he was playing with to change his diaper. This was greeted with a loud cry of “TTTTOOOOYYYSSSS!” while the lip fell down so far he could trip over it, and then he began openly sobbing.
• We made him eat one more piece of broccoli than he could tolerate.
• Hitting his head on the coffee table.
• Washing his hair. The spray over his head bothers him.
• When his stuffed elephant falls a few feet out of reach while we are changing his diaper.
• We won’t let him watch Frozen for the MILLIONTH time.
• We won’t let him play a game that is on our phones.

Here are a few of the puzzling reasons why my kid is crying:

• The Cubs lost. He had better get used to this or it will be a long, painful existence. Same thing goes for if the Bears, White Sox, Bulls or Blackhawks lose.
• Seeing grandma and grandpa necessitates a car ride first.
• We made him finish his hot dog before he could have his strawberries.
• We made him finish his pizza.
• We told him he couldn’t drink the bathwater.
• We told him to drink his milk.
• We took the milk he wasn’t drinking out of his hands.

The good news for our sake is that for the most part, he is growing out of the air raid siren cries. Biologically, he no longer needs to let everyone within a mile radius know when he is crying. It is usually also short bursts. A simple distraction can usually pull him out of his fit.

It makes it easier to laugh at the absurd.