Ambient Rage in Maplewood

"I have an explosive personality," says my neighbor.

Then, as if to illustrate, she throws herself in front of a honking vehicle. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!" she screams.

My daughter stares in horror.

"You fucking asshole--you're honking at a pre-Kindergarten bus! These are TODDLERS! I'm going to RUIN YOUR FUCKING DAY!!!!"

Later that afternoon, my daughter becomes oddly diva-esque. Having been given a hamburger, she begins shouting. "I HATE this meat! I HATE spice bits!!!!" (She particularly hates pepper, whose name she can't recall. It's always "the black spice.")

The family counselor suggests that I ought to shield my daughter from my neighbor and my neighbor's (aggressive) child.

Careful the things you say....

Children will listen.....

I'm working on this. I try to be studiously "semi-late" for the bus--with Susie--in the morning. We've talked about ignoring people who antagonize us. There's also that old chestnut, a saying we rehearse at home: "Stop! I don't like that."

This might be an interesting year.

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