Please Momma, please
I seem like I need that gadget or phone,
but what I am really saying by being still and quiet
Is that I am not getting the right exercise for my body and brain.
As soon as you take that thing away,
I will melt down.
You have just given me a powerful drug that makes you think
I am happy and an unseen/unheard child.
It gives you a moment’s peace
so that you can distract yourself with your own screen.
But, what I need more than sirens and smartphones,
is fresh air
And legs that run.
Things to take apart and examine and climb.
I need to read the words of the universe
That are painted in the trees.
I can’t think straight
Because my brain is filled
With flashes of bright light
And fast-moving images and sounds.
The fire truck should be great to push around the room,
But instead, I sit still and keep pushing the siren over and over.
I forget to move because I am sucked in by the sound.
I can’t think straight.
Pushed to my overloaded limit, I lash out.
I hit.
I bite.
I kick.
All of this is my little toddler person saying
“My emotions are too big for me to be held captive by a screen”.
My way of saying “NO” is throwing and biting and hitting.
It’s as violent to me on the inside
As the rage I show to you,
When I throw the plastic phone,
Hitting you on the head.
Please, please instead:
Give me a blanket and teddy
And boxes for making forts and trains.
I know it looks like I want to climb higher to hold that phone you use,
But I can’t help but meltdown when you take it away.
My eyes can’t handle the screen.
It makes me then scream.
Please use an intervention.
My addiction is dramatic.
I love you.
I love you.
I
love
you
— not the screens.
But, my brain is all scrambled
and when you grab that phone away from me,
All I can think to let come out is a giant toddler,
“NO!”
So, hold me a bit longer.
Help me to play again.
Let me be kind to others in a way
I can only do
When I feel good about myself.
Please mama, please.
Hug me tight and save me now!
Show me how gently
To let the screens and loud toys go.
Show me that you can find the true meaning in my word,
“NO!”
