The Misbehaving Child
(A metaphor for detached mindfulness)
The small girl tugs impatiently
On her nanny’s skirt.
Getting no response
She tugs again
More insistently this time.
Still nothing.
Her nanny is talking to the shopkeeper
And doesn't even look down.
This won’t do;
The child is used to getting
What she wants
When she wants it.
Pouting,
She stamps off
To the far side of the shop;
She looks back
But the nanny doesn't seem
To have noticed.
She begins to stomp her feet
BANG BANG BANG
On the hard linoleum floor
Then kicks at a shelf
THUMP!
Still,
She gets no reaction.
The child scuffs her toe
As she kicks again
And begins to wail.
She doesn’t see
The quick glance
The nanny casts her way.
Angry and frustrated now
The child screws up her face
And begins howling;
She kicks the shelf once more
Then jumps up and down on the spot
Her hands clenched into fists
Letting loose
A full blown tantrum.
She’s sure she can feel her nanny’s gaze now
But no voice tells her to stop
No arms reach out to pick her up;
AT the other side of the shop
The nanny has a peripheral awareness
Of the child
And although it’s a struggle
She stays just where she is
Continues her conversation
Not engaging
Or making a move.
She reminds herself
There's nothing breakable on the shelf
No harm can be done;
Sooner or later
The child will tire herself out
The tantrum will subside.
Sure enough,
Within minutes
The little girl is out of breath;
The howling dies down
And the stamping ceases
She has realized
Her nanny is not coming over
No matter how loud
She yells and screams.
Pursing her lips
She sinks down in the corner
Arms crossed
Defeated,
Her back against the wall.
The nanny lets out a silent breath
And as the tension begins to leave her body
She allows herself a half smile -
She has won another battle.
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