Marcel, age 6, suddenly got angry after dinner.

“I want to go to the shop today and buy that Lego bunny set!” he shouted.

“Only 2 more nights, and then we will go to the shop,” said his dad.

“I want to go to the shop today! Or tomorrow! Not in 2 nights!!” Now, he was furious.

“You know we always do shopping on Fridays, and you knew it’s very soon,” his dad reminded him.

Marcel burst into tears so much that he could barely breathe.

“It’s all your fault!” he exclaimed, pointing at his dad.

“But… like… me?” asked his dad in a loving way.

“YOU!!!!!”

Marcel allowed me to take him on my lap. I cuddled him tightly; he wept and screamed alternately and finally said to me,

“If you won’t take me to the shop today, then I won’t like you as well.”

“We will go to the shop in 2 days,” I answered.

He got off my lap and went to his bedroom. We let him be there alone, but after 10 minutes, I went upstairs and met him lying on the bed looking at the Lego instructions. I lay down next to him and gave him a hug. He was calmer.

“Marcel, are you still holding onto anger?” I asked.

He nodded his head.

“You know that holding onto anger for a longer time is destructive for your body, don’t you?”

He nodded his head again.

“Do you want to breathe with me into the belly?”

He shook his head.

“Do you still want to hold onto the anger?”

He nodded his head.

“Okay, then I will breathe into my belly for you.”

I held an intention that the breathing dissolves his anger and he feels more centered in his body.
I closed my eyes, and as soon as I started, he joined me.
We took slow, deep belly breaths, but then Marcel started playing with their length and intensity. I could tell that he really enjoyed this moment.
I stopped, and so did he.
When I started again, he did as well, and it was fun. When we finished, he nodded his head.

“Is the anger gone?” I asked.

“Yes, and I want to go downstairs now,” he answered as if the whole madness about Lego didn’t happen at all.