January 23, 2009

And yelled

Shaggy Hair Boy had a birthday this week, and family members have been sending their favorite anecdotes about him over the family email list. He’s the most emotive of my kids — very different from his two brothers, who tend to be the strong, silent type.

Shaggy Hair Boy has a very expressive face: when he was little, you could actually see the freckles dance. When he’d get frustrated, he’d lose his temper and scream, a high-pitched noise that was as jarring as a smoke alarm. We were all relieved when his voice finally changed.

Red-haired Sister, who lives about 250 miles away, tells a story about the time we were staying at her house for a few days. Shaggy Hair Boy was about seven years old.

The visit was going along peacefully until the morning that she heard loud shrieking coming from a bedroom. She rushed down the hall, thinking that one of the kids was getting hurt.

When she opened the door, she found Shaggy Hair Boy, who was all alone. He smiled at her happily.

She looked around, confused. "Did you hear that awful screaming?" she asked.

“Mom said I couldn't scream at your house unless I was in a separate room," Shaggy Hair Boy said.

He beamed at her. "Boy in Black took the last piece of bacon so I came in here and yelled and yelled and yelled."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bless him, what a well behaved boy! Happy Birthday Shaggy Hair Boy.

Rev Dr Mom said...

THAT is a great story!

Happy Birthday Shaggy Hair Boy!

EmmaNadine said...

Are you archiving the emailed stories in some manner for him? He would love to have them some day, and when he has kids, they would love to hear them as well.

Happy Birthday, Shaggy Hair Boy.

Unknown said...

I love it! Happy Birthday, Shaggy Hair Boy!!

kathy a. said...

shaggy hair sounds so very content in that story, having a way to get the frustrations out! happy birthday!

susan said...

I so needed to read that story this week! It is amazing how good it can feel to get the grumpies out, as my girl would put it. He sounds so proud of himself, even years later in your words.

gina marie said...

Hahaha...that is a funny story. I'd say that takes some discipline...to wait until he is in a separate room to scream. What a good kid.

jo(e) said...

Of course, we had to go through many days at home when he *didn't* go off into a separate room.

His voice was soooo high-pitched. We were all hugely relieved when it finally changed.

Lilian said...

Awww, I love this story.

My youngest is an angry one too. But, what surprises me the most, however, is how Linton verbalizes his emotions before acting. He says things like "I want to throw Kelvin in the trash!" or "I am angry with you mama!" or "I want to hit Kelvin!" OH, and we cannot dare to laugh at him, or he'll shriek loudly (he used to scream, he's getting better).

Good think Kelvin's the one with the high pitched voice around here ;-)