Josh cries to express his frustration or displeasure but he doesn't have the words to complain. Sometimes I wonder, what would he complain about if he could communicate like a typically developing 10 year old?
One thing that I can think of that he might complain about is how extroverted the rest of his family is. Josh's parents and sisters are all raging extroverts. We love to talk, relate to people constantly, and talk about relating to people. Parents of other kindergarteners complain to me that they can never get their kids to tell them about how their day was. Anna would give me a minute by minute explanation of how her day went and how she felt about it if I didn't stop her. We're talkers.
I grew up in a household of introverts so I think I had a vague sense of growing up wishing that people would talk to me more. More often than not, weekends were spent with everyone reading books in separate rooms. Car trips were usually quiet and reflective. That drove me crazy but, then again, I didn't really know any better (or different).
The household that I am shaping is not so quiet. We have a constant flow of people over at our house. We have vivacious conversations at the dinner table about all manner of topics (although, usually scaled down for the kinder/ 1st grade crowd). We usually do one round of "What was your highlight or lowlight of your day?" every day. There are a LOT of questions asked and conversations that start with, "You know what I was just thinking about?" People don't just think quietly around here. We have to TALK about what we are thinking about.
I am not sure but, even if Josh had the cognitive ability to be more verbal person, I think that he would be an introvert. He really enjoys time alone (preferably with music) and seems quite happy to just chill out in his room. Josh is also happy to just sit together on our couch, not talking, just being together. Physical touch is a bigger "language of love" than talking. Sometimes, when his sisters (and their chatter) come home, he runs as fast as he can to his room and buries his head under his blankets. Josh's proclivity towards a more introverted lifestyle reminds me that we don't always have to be socializing or talking to be happy. I think I need that.
Especially during this holiday season, our life is full of parties, gatherings, celebrations and other such extroverted interactions. While I really enjoy this, in general, today my spirit felt too full of talk and people. I think that my girls felt the same because when they asked me what we were doing today and I told them that we had no plans and that we were just going to stay home, they seemed happy.
Everyone is in separate rooms reading or listening to music right now so I think I will also try to have a more introverted moment. After I finish sharing my thoughts with you in this post :)
