Nooo! Not “The Weapon”!

It isn’t the repetitious “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” that makes you think your ears are bleeding.

It isn’t the whining over a toy or wanting something they can’t have, to the point of wanting to stab yourself with a spork.

It isn’t the constant fighting amongst themselves, or the back and forth banter, one-upping each other, or having to be right to the point of literally hiding in the bathroom, plugging your ears while humming.

(Although those are quite noteworthy weapons with which to cause us to go gray.)

It’s something that doesn’t even need that much effort. Something that doesn’t even need to be uttered, or spoken. Something that is just that powerful. This all-encompassing power they impose on us without warning, without provocation.

A mere implication, if you will.

What is it, you must be asking. What is it that can drive you so deep into the bowels of your emotions, that you’ll want to drop every thing you’re doing just to make it stop and fix it, regardless of how important whatever you were doing might be?

Brace yourself. Put down whatever you’re doing right this instant, so that you don’t drop a plate, or spill your coffee on your keyboard.

It’s the ever-frightening, melt-you-into-a-weeping-puddle…

….pouty lip.
Whoa.

Like, wow. Whoa.

Sorry to scare you, but.. do you see the power they have over us? Here, look…
Did you feel that? That sudden drop inside you, like you just went on a roller coaster, picked up the phone and received the worst news of your life, gave birth and got dumped all in one milli-second. How does that happen, snot and all?
It’s ok if you got chills there. Or if you almost, without even thinking, ran to get a lollipop or piece of candy to jump through the screen and give to the picture, I know. I know, it’s an automatic reaction, when you see this ever-scary pouty lip and immediately have to act upon it with lightning speed to remedy whatever caused it to appear in the first place. I know, friend.

I know.