Brandon's Puppy

It's not just what you say, but how you say it.

I have been meaning to share this story since Sunday, but kept forgetting to download the pictures from my camera.
After the party on Saturday afternoon, we got home and I put the boys in the bath immediately. They were quite tired from the day's events and I could tell they were ready to unwind and relax, maybe even go to bed early. After their bath I put both of them in their pj's, even though it was only five in the afternoon. At least if they fell asleep, we wouldn't have to wake them. The baby was in the living room with Eric, but Brandon went to his playroom for a while. I was doing something in the kitchen when I heard a loud thud. I didn't hear Brandon crying, so I assumed it was him playing and he hit the wall with a toy or a ball or something like that. Not long after, maybe ten minutes, I got up to check on the laundry (the laundry room is located directly in front of the play room) and I see this. I look to the right, and I see this. I ask Brandon, "What happened? What is this mess?", and he couldn't answer me. All of a sudden, his eyes got water-y, he looked at me with these droopy, sad eyes, and just started to cry. He couldn't get the words out. I realized that it wasn't that he made a mess on purpose, but it must have been some sort of accident. I got all sentimental and just bent down and hugged him as my eyes welled up. Poor little guy was trying to pick a movie to watch. Somehow the DVD tower thing fell, and the movies scattered all over the floor. He was hurriedly trying to put everything back before he got "in trouble". It should be noted at this point that he can access any of the children's movies he wants whenever he wants, as long as he's extremely careful. Most of the Disney movies are retired and we don't want to mess them up, so he'd been told that if he messes up the movies, we're taking away his access to them. I held him for a while, rubbed his back and asked him what had happened and if he was hurt. After a couple of sniffles he told me what happened. I helped him clean up the movies and just hung out with him in the playroom for a while. I felt so horrible afterward...even though it wasn't my intention, the way I asked him what happened made him feel accused. Probably a result of my body language, maybe the way I stood, or the way I cocked my head to the side or something. Not only that, the thing could have fallen on him and he could have hurt himself. Poor little guy. I've got to make a conscious effort to be realize what I'm saying to him with my expressions, not just my words.