But I can't stop crying! I really can't!

Saying for the day: If you don't stop crying I'll give you something to cry for.

My grandson Alex had a slight altercation with his mother just before coming to our house for Easter. He was told to go to bed and he didn’t want to so he started to cry. His mother told him to stop but he said “ I can’t”. So she got angry and told him no television for a week.

This set me to thinking about kids and crying.
I did some careful research and developed the following principals worthy of Oprah or Dr. Phil.

1. Children are going to cry even when they gain nothing by it.
2. Children will cry even when it causes them to be made fun of by their peers.
3. Once children have begun to cry they can not shut down the tears on command.
4. Adults know this but threaten dire consequences for continued crying anyway.

These principals are based on the following absolutely true historical and personal stories.

Child caveman crying because he doesn’t want to eat any more charred mastodon. “ I can’t eat any more”, Big tears
Father caveman “ Quit Crying”
Child “ I can’t” Bigger tears.
Father “Stop crying or I’ll throw you to the dinosaurs.”
Mother- “Leave the kid alone. Go kill us something else for supper.” Then to the kid “ Go to the back of the cave and clean some bones”.

Little Ghenghis crying because he doesn’t want to sharpen any more swords
Father. “Stop crying you’re a Mongol. Mongols don’t cry.”
Child “ I can’t”, big tears
Father “If you don’t stop crying I’ll cut off your ears.”
Mother “ Leave the kid alone. Don’t you want him to grow up and get revenge on the Tatars” To little Ghengis “ Go to your tent and make plans to conquer the world”

Little Napoleon crying because he doesn’t want to go on the family trip to Waterloo .
Father “Quit crying. Right now!”
Child “ I can’t.” Great big tears
Father “ Quit crying or I’ll take away all your toy soldiers”
Mother “Leave the kid alone. Take away his soldiers he won’t grow up to conquer Europe.” To the kid “ Go to your room and think of how wonderful Waterloo will be.”

Little DR. John crying because his father won’t let him take his Charlie McCarthy puppet to Grandma’s at Christmas. Very big tears.
Father “ Quit crying”
Dr.John “ I can’t” Bigger tears.
Father “ If you don’t stop crying I’ll give you something to cry for.”
Mother “ Stop tormenting the boy . You’ll give him a complex” To the kid “ Get in the car and leave that stupid puppet home”

Little Peter crying because his parents won’t let him go to something all the other kids are going to. Big tears.
Father Dr. John “ Stop that crying”
Peter “ I can’t stop”
Father “ If you don’t stop crying I’ll give you something to cry for” (And after I promised myself I would never say that to my kids)
Mother “ Stop picking on the kid” To Peter “ Go to your room until you stop crying: ( The voice of reason)

Luke crying because he doesn’t want to eat something he said he wanted. Really big tears.
Grandfather Dr. John “ Stop that crying”
Luke “ I can’t”
Grandfather “ If you don’t stop I’m just going to laugh at you”, (A new approach )
Grandmother “ Stop tormenting the kid” To Luke “ You can sit there until you eat your food crying or not” (the voice of reason)

So you see how well my principals apply.

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8800 spins without a prize.Old Hapless is looking forward to a summer vaction from blogging. As soon as Pigeon Falls appears out of the mist this space will become the day to day life of Pigeon Falls. The town where all the men hunt deer and the women let them. Old Hapless will keep spinning and losing but he won't have to write about it again until next fall.
Well Uncle Wiggly lovers if Pigeon Falls doesn't suddenly appear out of the mist causing old Hapless to go on vaction we will be back tomorrow with another chapter of "As the World Spins"
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We went shopping in Iron Mountain this morning and early afternoon. As usual we spent too much. We bought lots of flowers ( even though its too early to plant them) , paint, nails, gloves, glue, and soap. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA