The ticker
I never expected, when I passed him the plastic-wrapped pack of pitta breads, that he would explode. But that was what an ex-housemate did around 20 years ago. After that we had a conversation about his mood and emotions, and while I have lost contact with that friend, what he said has stuck with me. He described his mood like a ticker. It would go: Happy | Happy | Sad | Happy | Sad | Happy | Happy | etc. Ticking along moment to moment, up and down and up again. Except occasionally, it would tick down, down, and, like when I passed him the pitta breads, explodes. Happy | Happy | Sad | Happy | Sad | Sad | Very Sad | Angry | Rage That ticker description came back to me this morning, when my eldest wet the bed [sad], remembered it was school today [sad], and then, the final straw, the need for sunscreen [rage]. He ticked into a pit(ta) from which he erupted kicking, hitting, and shouting. I am hoping that when I tell him the ticker story later it might give him a tool to help him understand his emotions a little better. Or at least help prevent any explosions in his future.