When Mommy's Hugs No Longer Fix Everything....

One of the best things about being mommy to a toddler is that mommy's hugs and kisses can fix whatever is bothering them. How I wish I could lift my teens spirits with the "tickle monster" and lots of kisses. It just doesn't have the same effect as they age. When toddlers are upset they instinctively reach for mommy to pick them up and hug them and make everything better. They scrape their knee and mommy's kisses fix it up. By nature, mommies are fixers, it is in our instincts to take care of our young. Niles was especially snuggly and cuddly from an infant. He was very easy to calm and appease... until recently. My happy little guy seems to always be upset about something. He doesn't have the language to tell me what is upsetting him. When  he is upset, I can't even pick him up, he won't even look at me. He would rather bang his head on the hardwood floor than get a hug from mommy. How does that make me feel? It makes me feel like a failure, it makes me feel like I can't take care of him like I should. I want so badly to hug him and cuddle him and make it all better, but he wants no part of that. So now we need to move on and find something to replace mommy's hugs and kisses with. What will calm him if mommy can't? We are in search of that right now.....