Well, he sounds just like me. But it was probably more socially acceptable because I was a girl. In retrospect, I would probably call it grieving and would treat it as such.
DS certainly had some tendencies that way, especially when an insect was killed. It would take a long time to calm him down. What helped, in that case, were small rituals, ways to memorialized what was lost and acknowledge the grief. We had little signs up all over the house to mark the death spots of moths and beetles: "In Memorium: Alex The Beetle 2002 RIP." It helped.
It's interesting that you brought this up because that's what I called it when he cried about the balloon. We acknowledged that it was sad, a loss that he needed to mourn but that everyone moves on as they grieve. Last night he brought up the sadness about the balloon again just after I tucked him in bad. He said that he couldn't stop thinking about it. We get this type of thing a lot at bedtime. So, I told him that he could choose to think about the balloon and be sad if he needed to but that he could also choose to be happy by thinking about all the fun he had at the fair. He tried to argue with me that he just cuoldn't stop thinking about it. But I left it in his field by suggesting a few happy thoughts then saying that he could choose to think about what he wanted and change his feelings. Basically, I gave him permission to feel sad but tried to empower him about feeling happy. Then I left him in bed. Surprisingly he didn't keep carrying on like he has done in the past. He quieted down and fell asleep.
MrWiggly is ENFP, so the crying is definitely part of his personality. I am ENFJ, so that's where Dr. Ruf had pointed out that I fuel MrWiggly's sadness and focus on feelings because *I'm* so focused on feelings. I've been reading the book she recommended, Children: The Challenge, and been trying to use some of the approaches to empower him more and baby him less. A few months ago I would have been either laying in bed with him comforting him or getting angry that he wouldn't fall asleep. I suppose just relaxing about it and being affirming and empowering is the way to go.
I don't have a problem with having a sensitive son but I do think that crying at the drop of a hat is a problem socially for boys and men. I need to read some of the Michael Gurian books Dr. Ruf recommended about boys.
Thanks for letting me know there's others out there crying, too!
