Night and Day

It's amazing how different two brothers can be.

On the one hand, we have Sonwun, the extrovert. He wants friends, he wants to play, he wants to go to preschool, he wants to go to swimming class, he wants to go to his friends house. If Jack The Ripper held out his blood-soaked hand while standing over a fresh corpse, Sonwun would grab it, ask where they were going and ask if they could get ice cream on the way.

Last year I was concerned about Sonwun going to preschool, having heard stories of wailing, screaming, gnashing of teeth as daddy dropped off child and turned to leave. I was worried I wouldn't have the strength to do the right thing and keep on walking.

Turns out I didn't have anything, and I mean anything, to worry about. I said good-bye at the classroom door and he didn't even look back. Onward to new adventures, new people, new friends. See ya later, whats-yer-face.

On the other hand, we have Sontoo, the introvert. He wants mommy, daddy and Sonwun. No one else, end of story. If he loses track of me at playgroup, which is held in a small gymnasium, he starts cooking up a meltdown of biblical proportions. If I don't notice and respond within 15 seconds, he's howling like a banshee, snot is running down his face and the sobbing shakes his little body like an electric shock.

And if one of the other poor, unsuspecting, but well-meaning mothers picks him up to comfort him, he turns it up to 11.

Anyhoo, I am a little concerned with this. Wednesday, for example, he kind of took his introversion to another level (12?). At playgroup, he did not leave me for more than 5 minutes in two hours. Seriously. He just wanted to lay on my chest as I sat in a chair. He never wants to do that when there's a good hockey game on. Come to think of it, he never, ever wants to do that at home. Ever.

Now, it's possible this was in response to his decision to wake up at 5:15 a.m. and not go back to sleep. But that's only 45 minutes off his regular wake-up time. And I'm sure that if we were home he would not have been acting that way.

In addition, we can not even think of leaving him with a babysitter. He will not stand for it. Now if we lived closer to family, I think we could break him. But I just can't see leaving him with a babysitter we hardly know, in this new city, while he screams bloody murder the entire time. Just wouldn't feel right about that.

I realize preschool's a couple years off still, but we've got to adjust this attitude before we get there, if only for our own sanity. Neomom and I need to get away once in a while and it will be a lot easier if Sontoo agrees to allow a babysitter into the house while he's awake.

And on a completely different note, chipotle and meat loaf are made for each other. Chipotloaf? Delicious!

Have a great weekend.