Max is going through another bout of arguing with us a lot. It’s frustrating: he’s just like me, so I engage him and argue back. I’m finding it difficult to stay calm and get the upper hand. I’m trying to just not do it.

It might be as little as “You put your toy upstairs.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Go check.”

“I didn’t!!”

It goes ’round and ’round like this. Grr. It’s like he’s a teenager already.

And he’s starting to get angry more often. He’s never really done that. Sad and frustrated, yes, and we know he’s a sensitive child. But he stomped up the stairs growling like a 16 year old, and The Hub and I just looked at each other and said, “What was that?”

I feel like we’re moving into uncharted territory, and as parents of a singleton, we don’t know what’s normal. We worry he suppresses his feelings too much (like when a kid was punching him in the stomach every day and he didn’t mention it for a week) and that that will come out in a bad way later.

I’m looking into books that can give us tips for how to navigate this rocky part of our lives. Any advice?

Most of us live quiet lives. No violence. But this week I’ve had two events that touched me, though I wasn’t directly involved (calm down, Mom).

Our nephew, who is also 6, witnessed the death of a 10-year-old who was trying to catch the bus in Gulfport, MS. Somehow he tripped and ended up under the wheel. The entire busload of kids got off the bus (I think the bus driver was too freaked out to think to keep them on) and they all watched him die.

Our nephew was naturally distraught. I can’t even imagine how this will affect him long term. It sickens and saddens me.

Then in our neighborhood yesterday, a schizophrenic man beat the crap out of his mom. I didn’t even know there was a schizophrenic guy living down the street. He broke her back and messed her up pretty badly. As a mother, I can’t imagine the emotional pain she’s going through, in addition to the physical.

Sorry to be a downer today. It’s just that it jolts me into reality when something so.real happens so close to home. May you not have the same.

So we went to see Seussical the Musical the other day. Overall, it was good. It was loosely based on Horton Hears a Who, and the kids in it were fantastically talented.

But then we get to the part where Mayzie, the flamboyant red bird, is sitting on an egg. Horton asks how she got in this predicament, and she proceeds to sing about a boy bird who wooed her and then left her. Alone. With this egg.

And now she’s bored and cranky, taking care of the egg, so won’t Horton please watch her egg while she takes the afternoon off? He does, and she flies away for the winter.

Am I the only one who sees this as inappropriate content for children’s play?? My friend who went with us did too. But when I searched online there is no one talking about this.

I’m not a prude. In fact, I’m pretty damn liberal. But this really bothered me. What purpose did this bird having a fling and being left with the egg, then abandoning it, have in the bigger scope of this fun, upbeat play??

What do you think? Have you seen it?