Pretty Pink Balloons & Things that make me Scream

Today Elise and I went to the Main Street Days Festival in Grapevine. It's free on Friday before 5:00, and that is enough of a reason for me to throw Elise into her car seat, load up the Excursion of a stroller and head on over to look for free parking. With the time constraints, we couldn't stay long, but we were able to take in the petting zoo, some clowns, and some nice lady gave Elise the pink balloon you see pictured here. Elise was quite taken with the balloon and started to whimper as I tried to take it from her hands so I could tie it to the stroller. That really should have been the first sign of impending doom.

When it came time to leave, she again hyperventilated when I took the ribbon from her hands so I could buckle her into her seat, but was appeased when I gave it back to her to enjoy during the ride home.

When we got home, it was quite evident that the baby girl was tired and it was time for her nap, so as I layed her down to change her diaper, I gently took the balloon away. Well, you would have thought I had started poking her with red hot needles according to her reaction. Not one to try and reason with an 8 month old, I took the balloon out of her room, put her in her crib, gave her a kiss and walked out. One hour and 15 minutes later, she finally stopped screaming and crashed into sleep. And yes, I did go in a few times to make sure she wasn't spontaneously combusting or something. I might take balloons away from small children, but I'm not a monster.

Sometimes when something I really want is taken away from me, I tend to react like Elise did when I took away her balloon. Granted, it might not be as visceral a reaction as hers was. More like the adult version of a temper tantrum. It usually involves some wailing and gnashing of teeth. But what I don't realize is that sometimes it's good to have things taken away. In Elise's case, the balloon would have distracted her from her nap, and it would have been dangerous for me to leave it in there. What if she had gotten hold of the ribbon and wrapped it around her neck? Or the balloon popped and she choked on the remnants. Or it turned into a balloon monster and ate her (okay, you get the idea).

I wonder how many times have I thrown myself on the ground in front of God, kicking and screaming because I deemed something unfair, only to find out in the long run that He was in fact looking out for me.

I'll take that over a pink balloon every time.