Angry Bird

My son is angry, right now; he just discovered that his old bed is missing. We had to dismantle the old one to make room for the new one coming tomorrow - there won't be time in the morning. That makes sense to an adult. To him, all it means is his mattress is on the floor and his old bed, even though it was falling apart and looking ratty, is gone.

He doesn't really have a concept of "tomorrow, a new bed will be there." He is five - at this age, even though they have a sense of time, it distorts, and they're still very "now" minded. Not with the immediacy of an infant, for whom now is the only moment, but it's still tough for kids to hold onto the idea of delayed gratification. He has no bed now, so he'll never have a bed. If I can get him to calm down a little, he'll understand...but for now he is in his room, angry about this sudden change...this change that he has been a part of, as he helped pick the new bed, watched and helped me clean his room, watched T dismantle the old one.

How we fear change, even when we initiate it. He is responding with the honesty and confusion of a child. The new frame will be here in the morning, between eight and eleven. I am hoping it comes earlier rather than later. The sooner he sees that slide and the fort (shut up, I know it's ridiculous!), the sooner he'll forget the old heap and be happy.

In a few minutes, I am going to go talk to him about outgrowing things. T took him down to see his very first bed, ever - a cradle a friend of the family built for him that was only big enough for the first few weeks since he was born toddler size (ten pounds, four ounces, almost twenty-two inches long) and grew fast. I am hoping he'll understand, otherwise I am in for a long night. Sigh.