in which I break a bowl

I swear that I didn't start breaking my new dishes just because I finally discovered where to buy other new ones that I like.

It was an accident.

I was getting glasses out of the cabinet last night at dinner, to add them to the table where Connor and Kevin were already sitting, eating chicken noodle soup. (We had a small dinner last night, having had a large meal already.)

As I passed the glasses in the air over Connor's head, one slipped out of my fingers and landed right in front of him, in his soup bowl. His soup bowl shattered right as he was eating. I'm glad I didn't drop it on his head!

He cried and cried and was pretty shaken up. He was just innocently eating his dinner when all of the sudden something heavy came crashing down at him and ruined his meal! Kevin took him in the other room to play musical instruments while I cleaned it all up and reset the dinner table and got him more soup.

When I rang the dinner bell a second time, he was fine, or so we thought.

He did keep asking me, "Why did you break my bowl, Mommy?"

It seems that we triggered some need to protect in him, and at bedtime, he chose a book about Firefighters to read.

That's when I discovered that he wasn't interested in the book, but rather a lengthy discussion about what he would do in the event of a fire or tornado!

His questions started out innocently enough, so I was answering them in a kid friendly fashion. But then he kept asking if there was going to be a fire and tornado on this night. And he was shaking and clearly scared. Not able to assure him by myself that Kevin and I do everything in our power to keep him safe all the time and that he doesn't need to worry or be scared, I called Daddy up to help me. He basically told Connor what I did, and we went over some safety plans, and then we let him fall asleep in our bed instead of his.

But right before he feel asleep, I heard him having a very serious discussion (with no one) about how a real football helmet, and not one of those mailboxes shaped like a football helmet that we saw at the store, could protect his head during a fire or a tornado. I was brushing my teeth, and I smiled at myself in the mirror.

I told him that we would all go to sleep and we would wake up in the morning just fine, and that we would have a good day. And so far, I was right!