When my daughters were toddlers and daily tantrums the norm, I would close my eyes and say to myself, “This, too, shall pass.” (I said a lot of other things, also, but they’re not printable.) Of course, the tantrums did pass–only to be replaced by some other habit that drove me back to my mantra. Such as it is with children; they try our nerves, push and prod, all to test the limits of  parental love. What they ultimately learn is that there are no limits. A parent’s love is boundless.

I also use this mantra with Galen, because like a toddler, she, too, will take a fancy to doing something that makes me nuts. I was reminded of one such episode when I re-read a story I’d submitted several months ago to Writers and Other Animals, but that is now posted on its blog. Readers of my former blog, she’s a dork, may recognize the story.