Hey Mom Hey Mom Hey Mom!

Like most people who have managed to create a human being using only spare parts we had around the house, I often look at my children and marvel at the miracle of their existence. 

My daughter has these long, gorgeous muscular legs that I can assure you didn’t come from anywhere on my side of the family. My son’s legs are exactly the same as his father’s, only a few inches shorter. Whenever they say something especially clever or funny (which, of course, I think is durn near all the time) I cannot believe that I managed to birth such a being with such a mind.

There are a lot of similarities we have. My daughter, like me, is a classic introvert.  Not at all shy, and friendly when we are in the mood, but craving alone time and being exhausted by too much stimulus. My son, like me, craves order and takes great pleasure in making a schedule for his day to come. He likes knowing what is coming next. We all like reading the same kinds of books, and it makes me unreasonably happy that they are now old enough to read books I can also find interesting and then talk about them.

My son has this magical ability to work a room. Even when he was a baby, he had this charm, and ability to engage other people. I remember going out to dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s when he was about nine months old – pre-verbal, but sitting alone in a high chair. Every time someone walked by he would look at them and smile a big, minimally-toothed grin, and stick his hand out like he was running for Mayor of Babyville and needed to press as many palms as possible. 

He can still do this, a skill I do not possess to any degree. Last year, when I was running for office, I admit I exploited his abilities, and would often trail in his wake as he worked his way across a picnic engaging everyone who would make eye contact with him. I didn’t have to ask him to do this. This is his default position. There isn’t a person on this Earth he can’t find something to talk about with and find something interesting about. I admire this skill as much as it mystifies me. 

He is an extrovert by any definition of the word. He is not at all shy, and interacting with other people charges his batteries. He cannot be worn out by activity. He is like one of those self-winding watches – the more movement, the more stored power. The world is created for people like him to succeed, people with boundless friendliness and energy, and the ability to engage. I often fear that his sister and I will be left in his dust.

There is a downside to this energy. As I am an introvert, this energy has a tendency to suck mine away with a straw. I require a lot of internal focus to complete tasks, and the idea of internal focus is as baffling to him as his ability to work a room is to me. For example, as I was typing the last paragraph he interrupted me with, “Hey Mom, Mom, look what I can do.” I looked up, and he crooked his thumb and made a cracking noise.

Ah, yes, glad my train of thought got derailed for that beauty. It took me a minute or so to get it re-railed. That’s my problem, not his, but it is still a problem. The poor kid has never had an unexpressed thought. If it is in his head, it is out of his mouth, and I often feel badly about how much this bothers me, since his heart is filled with nothing but kindness and love and good will towards men.

For example, we went to a Thai restaurant we’d never been to before the other night. He was excited about the idea of being in a new place and trying new foods. Next to me was the following monologue: “Hey Mom – where is the masaman curry on the menu? There it is. You can get chicken or beef or tofu. Which do I want? Or maybe I want the panang curry. Oooh! They have spring rolls! I love spring rolls!” Buddy, I said. Think about the menu on the inside of your head.  “Ok. Hey Mom, what drinks do they have? Oh, here they are. Mom? What’s a lychee?”

So, what’s an introverted Mom to do about her uber-extroverted son? Love him to pieces, that’s what, and try to find a new book series or complicated Lego set for him to get hooked into so I can recharge my own batteries. In the meantime, I’ll carry around jumper cables and an extra-large cup of coffee for my own benefit, just in case.