When I hear the word feelings the first thing that comes to mind is the hyperdramatic song by Morris Albert in the 1970s. The next thing that comes to mind is how much Everett shares them with us. If there is one easy thing about spending time with him it is reading his emotions. He is quite transparent, and one of the best experiences we get to have as parents is to witness his sense of joy and wonder about the world. For some time now he has talked about his feelings, which is great because it reduces guesswork for us. Some common phrases:<\/p>\n
-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You hurt my feelings\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. This usually happens after one of us raises our voice with him after failing all attempts at a peaceful resolution to a problem.<\/p>\n
-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That makes my feelings happy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Self explanatory, but I need to get a picture of how he puts his hands on his chest when he says it.<\/p>\n
-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Does that baby feel sad?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He can get pretty concerned when he observes other children who are upset. He wants to know why, and he will sometimes comfort them if he knows them well enough.<\/p>\n
-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angry mandril face.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d One time about a year ago he and Luka were at the zoo with Melissa and Maryke. As they were going through the ape house they ducked under the railing and got right up to the glass next to a male mandril who, as it turns out, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like having them that close. The mandril started screaming and they ran. Ever since then any kind of angry face is associated with mandrils. Soon afterward he added a happy mandril face as well.<\/p>\n
-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel roughhousy! Are you feeling roughhousy?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Also self-explanatory. Note that roughhousing is not the same a lion fighting, which is a term he started using at the beach this past summer with his cousins. Lion fighting and roughhousing seem remarkably similar to us, but sometimes Chris will perform some kind of maneuver during the latter and Everett will stop him and say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dad, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not playing lion fight now.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel scared\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has become a common phrase when he is dropped off at school in the morning. This is also new -\u00c2\u00a0 for a long time he seemed completely comfortable during dropoffs.<\/p>\n
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When I hear the word feelings the first thing that comes to mind is the hyperdramatic song by Morris Albert in the 1970s. The next thing that comes to mind is how much Everett shares them with us. If there … Continue reading