Reasons My Son Is Crying – A Real Tearjerker

Chances are if you’re a parent, grandparent, or anyone who spends a lot of time with young children, you’ve jumped into the recent frenzy over ReasonsMySonIsCrying. tumblr.com which documents a toddler’s reasons for bursting into tears.  This eye-opening photo series of one very tearful little boy strikes a chord with all parents. Who among us hasn’t been surprised and baffled by the irrational reasons for children’s tears? This photo diary is particularly effective because of the hilarious explanations that accompany each photo, written by the boy’s father.

As I was scrolling through all the amusing images and reading captions such as “The car seat—always the car seat” and “I turned the volume of The Hokey Pokey down…from ‘ear-splittingly loud’ to only ‘mind-numbingly loud’” and my favorite—“I broke his cheese in half,” I not only nodded my head in agreement, but also sat back and considered the following:

Kids and tears go hand in hand. And as any parent knows, there are countless times when there is just no rhyme or reason to their outbursts.  Throw in a stimulating or public situation or an overtired parent at their wit’s end, and these tantrums are anything but funny.

I have to admit, however, I got a kick out of the Tumblr crybaby series because the majority of these photos and captions were so darn true!  I couldn’t tell you how many times one of my 8 kids broke down in tears because I chose the wrong sippy cup to use at lunch, or worse, I actually looked at them when I handed them the cup. 

Documenting such moments is the personal choice of the parent, and with social media just a click away it’s certainly quite easy to post and share with others (in this case, thousands if not millions of others!). Some people are already complaining that this father isn’t right to share his child’s anguish with the world. But in this mom’s opinion, this photo journal wasn’t done with any intention other than to showcase and commiserate with what parents already know—kids don’t need a good reason to be cranky or cry. It’s normal, to be expected, and that’s not going to change whether Dad’s photographing the moment or not.

The only thing about these tearjerkers that we can change is how Mom and Dad react.  On a bad day, you may just need to go shed a few tears yourself (nothing wrong with that every now and again) but on an average parenting day maybe finding a little humor in the situation isn’t such a bad idea at all. In fact, it can be downright therapeutic.

On those days when you feel overwhelmed and your kid is crying at the drop of a hat, remember that you’re not alone in raising your children. They need other caring adults in their lives too, so don’t be afraid to ask for a break when you need it.  A half-hour respite to clear your mind and break away from your little one’s crying outbursts can be one of your smartest parenting moves.

Check out some other smart parenting moves in my episode on how Selfish Parenting Can Benefit Your Family.