My son is also well versed in the dramatic arts. Along with his newly acquired talent of eye rolling ( I kid you not- though it may not always be on purpose), and the perfected "mean mug", he will now make his lip quiver and voice warble when he cries- for added effect I'm sure. He can crocodile cry with the best of them.
I love my darling boy, he can be incredibly sweet. He loves to love, he gives the sweetest of kisses, and he is very brave and unafraid (unless there's a thunderstorm, in which case he will demonstrate how to jack-rabbit jump into our bed at 3 o clock in the morning). He is a tough cookie, which is great because he is so clumsy, and he is my absolute heart.
He is also like his Mother.
My husband is Mr. Calm in a Crisis- not an easily ruffled fellow, which is great because I'm Mrs. Totally Panicking. My son seems to have inherited a bit of my sense of drama. Which, when I was a kid it was always totally legit to me. I couldn't yet see that naps were not in fact the very end of the world, or that I wouldn't actually totally die if I had to have a shot. One of my Mother's favorite expressions growing up was "Ohh the Drama and the Pathos". Some of this I grew out of, some of this is patiently and lovingly tolerated by my husband and best friend.
So it would appear my sweet and loving little boy is like me. My hope is that this will help me to understand him a little better. I love my parents, but to some degree they didn't and still don't- understand me. I hope that I can teach J now, how to self calm and self sooth because even as adult I have to work at it. I help him name his feelings and try to guide him to a more appropriate response. Now, he's 2, he's going to act like a 2 year old- but I do hope to help him navigate emotions better. Less drama and more coping skills. It took me years to get even a good start.
In the mean time I try to look at this with as much humor as I can. We continue to evolve as parents and try new things, listen to parents who've been there and see what's worked for them. A lot of what we have been doing has had such positive results. However there are days when he is sick, tired, and there's just not been enough Grandma- and he gives me a performance to rival the divas. Those are the days we remember Daniel Tiger and we take our deep breaths and count to 4. I remember it never lasts forever and I live for his grin and his sweet face.