Reset

The other afternoon, Toby and Hazel got into a big screaming-crying something, over I don't remember what. Toby's friend was over at the time. At first I just removed myself from the area, but then I wondered if there was some way I could break the momentum of the situation (which was of course only escalating). Hazel has one of those plastic popcorn-popper push toys that make a lot of noise, which I happened to notice right near me as I was thinking about this. I grabbed it and ran through the house pushing it along, making a huge racket. I ran past the kids without looking at them, as they all shut up and watched me, startled. I ran back to my room - and got to enjoy their laughter and the forgetting of the conflict. It was like when a record is skipping (remember records?) and you just move the needle to another spot - RESET. And no yack-yack-yack from me about their fighting.