The Christmas Party

We hosted a Christmas party with way too many guests tonight.  All in all it was a rousing success.  There were 9 families at our house and I think everyone had a nice time.  There was just one incident.  I'm not sure if it was BP or just the natural reaction of a father, let me explain. . .

Our house used to have a separate studio apartment in the basement (we live near a University).  Because of this our basement family room has a door that locks and requires a separate key from anything else in the house to open. 

My oldest son is almost 3 years old.  He's an especially nice little kid, really tries to be everyone's friend.  Plus he's super cute.  light brown curly hair, and a perpetual grin on his face.

Our neighbors our great people, however, their 6 year old son seems to have a sadistic nature.  He seems to enjoy watching other kids get upset, scared, or be hurt.  I didn't realize he and my son were in the basement playing together. 

I heard my son sobbing from the basement and ran downstairs.  The door was locked and I tried to get him to open the door but he wouldn't.  I had to sprint upstairs find the key in the junk drawer and run back downstairs to get the door open.

When I opened the door the room was pitch black.  I turned the light on, ran in there picked him up and held him.  The neighbor's son had turned the lights out and locked my little guy in there by himself.  It's the closest I've ever come to striking a child.  I was so angry I almost couldn't see straight.

The neighbors scolded their son and made him apologize to me and to my son.  I let him apologize to me, but made it clear that what he'd done wasn't forgiven or forgotten.

I think it was just a normal parent reaction to get that angry.  I think it's also encouraging that I didn't fly a rage.  There was a time when I would have kicked that kid and his family right out on his ear.  I stayed composed, but I also kept my eye on him.

Anyway, it was an incident that really left a mark on me.  I don't know if it is even relevant to my illness, but I thought I'd share.

Comments

[Judy]

Glad you're back.
Wow, what a party.
I would say that your comment about 'the boy' is relevant to your illness because you handled the situation,in a positive way.
That has to be worth mentioning.

Thanks again for posting.

[Kate]

Dear John,
Glad to see a few posts from you. It sounds like you handled the Christmas situation pretty well, though I was wondering if you had made an appt to see your doctor about adjusting your meds. Your intense anger at this situation, along with your feelings of being cured (which you did not act upon) worry me a little bit.
I hope you don't mind these observations. Just know I care about you after reading so much about your struggles. Also it sounds like you have a really great family and you want to stay healthy for them, too.
Please take care of yourself and be mindful that the holiday season is very stressful for those with BP.
Kate