Matthew Moment

Last night, soon after bedtime, Matthew came out of his room to let us know that he had had a really sad thought and it was so sad he couldn't go to sleep or think of anything else. Bobby and I brainstormed with him about possible courses of action. We finally suggested that talking about the sadness might help it go away. Matthew was reluctant, but desperate, and he let it out all in one sobbing breath followed by hot, anguished tears. This was really, really important to him, but I only caught a couple words of it. Eventually, we figured out that he had imagined the house catching fire and all of his stuffies being burned. He said they were like real people to him. I tried to tell him how unlikely a house fire would be. No use. Simply the possibility of a house fire was enough for him. I didn't know what to do except to let him cry as I hugged him tight. He slowly started to calm down. Then he came up with an idea to distract him from this sad scenario and quietly went to bed. 

Dude. I know how that feels.