soft

Ipad arrived, yesterday. It was sitting in a box all day and hubbie went right at it upon coming through the door. He registered for this and that, fussed with the settings, all was fine. Then I saw him downloading PacMan....

Look, we aren't using this for games! I told him, the kids are going to use this to learn stuff.

Gimky, we're going to be on a plane for a long time....

I pushed Belac upstairs to get his pajamas on. I don't care! You're creating problems for me. The kids are going to be bugging me about the games and I'm going to lose control of that thing!!

Back and forth we went with me hollering down and getting myself worked up about whatever (I thought) he was downloading.

Mom, why are you mad at dad? Belac asked.

Open your ears and listen, you can figure it out, I told him.

When you go downstairs, will you still be mad at dad?

I went back down to the dining room to check on Jake, who was finishing homework. Was he... crying? He was crying!

What's going on?

Why are you fighting about the ipad? he sobbed. You always tell us not to fight over stupid things and so why don't you just throw the ipad out if you're going to fight about it? 

I could barely understand a word through his sobs as I put my arm around him.  My husband entered into the room and we just looked at each other, wide-eyed. 

Look, sometimes we're going to fight, Jake, but then it blows over. And you're right, it's over something stupid but this happens, sometimes, to the best of us....

I asked my husband later. Did you ever cry when your parents fought?

Never, he told me, and my parents fought a lot. We don't fight a lot, Gimky, the kids are not used to it.

I never cried about my parents fighting, either, and they fought a lot! Oy, hubby! Our kids are so soft!