Sunday, January 13, 2008

Just Desserts

My mom sometimes tell stories about how chatty and extroverted I was as a child. I guess it was striking, especially as compared to my brother’s disposition – he is a classic introvert, able to go hours and hours without engaging in a single bit of conversation with any other human being. Just sitting there, maybe petting the dog or watching tv, never opening his mouth to utter a syllable.

To stave off fights, my mom used to let us each choose what the family would do for alternating five-minute intervals in the mini-van. I would inevitably fill my time with singing and chatting and merry interactivity.

When Kevin’s turn came around, he would say, “For my time, I want QUIET.”

Apparently, I could abide his request for a maximum of sixty seconds before loudly protesting, complaining of unfairness, and begging for a game, a song, a novel topic of conversation.

I’m now feeling quite a lot of empathy for my family, as Shef hasn’t stopped talking all weekend. It’s been a never-ending stream of knock-knock jokes, pleas to play pretend, a knight fight, a flashlight, a piece of cheese, a super-hero costume, flashcards, crayons, a workbook featuring lower-case letters, play-doh, a game of catch, a bowl of water and wisk, a 64-page story.

I’m not kidding.

This is the first quiet moment we’ve experienced in 48 hours.

4 comments:

Undomestic said...

When does he start kindergarten?

KC said...

not soon enough! :) He has another year of preschool next year - he'll be 4 in March.

Tom said...

Look on the bright side. Toddler boy torture is probably a heck of a lot easier than teenage girl torture. Knight fights and pla-doh are a lot more fun than tears, yelling and door slamming.

cg said...

Hah I think his twin brother resides in Africa!!