History Repeating

From what my mom tells me, I was a bit of a stubborn, hard-headed little girl.  (Those who know me well, know not much has changed; and know that Harper is that little girl's twin!)  Mom tells a story of a day when I got so upset, I decided I was going to run away.  The story goes that I packed my bag and called my grandmother to come pick me up.  Then I waited at the end of the driveway.


Today, Harper got so mad he, too, decided he would run away.  Because my mom has told my "run away" story so many times, of course I had it in the back of my mind; so I told myself Harper would probably just go maybe to the end of the street.  I watched from the front porch.


But, that's where the similarities in the stories end.  Harper was mad; he was filled with rage.  He took off, backpack in tow.  It was when he started to cross the street that I realized he wasn't just waiting for grandma to come pick him up.  So I took off after him, which only made his rage worse.  (Another big difference in our stories.....cell phones!)  As I was texting Chris to bring the car, he came running up behind us.  After grabbing Harper's arms, holding him back, through his screams....Chris lifted his 85-pound, adrenaline filled body over his shoulder.  He carried him back to the house, as we both just prayed the neighbors weren't calling DCF.

*As a sidenote....this was a huge lesson in judgement for us, as we surely would've talked about "those people" carrying their kicking and screaming son down the street....had it been someone else.

I'll spare you all the details of when we got back home, but will just tell you instead that it was a very long afternoon.  After lots of alone time and lots of talk time, Harper decided on some color therapy.  When he finally came out of his room, he showed us his masterpiece.  A completely changed kid from an hour before.  And what I thought would be a very angry drawing, with scribbles and scratches and dark colors.....was completely opposite.  Instead, it was an incredibly symmetrical, calm, happy and bright picture.  And as he told me about it, he even said he used the "rubbing technique" his former Sunday school teacher, Ms. Cathy, taught him 3 years ago.

I don't ever remember hearing how the rest of my "runaway story" turned out.  And now that we made it through Harper's story....I can't help but wonder how the next story will go.  (And I hope and pray the next story doesn't happen for about 20 years.....and is that of Harper's child.)