Blood Curdling Scream
For the most part, we have a pretty calm house. I mean- we have 2 kids, so there is going to be loudness, but for the most part it's calm. However, occasionally our blissful calm is broken by a shriek that could break glass. If you are unaccustomed to these random, high pitched shrieks, it could cause you alarm. I don't even blink an eye.
We don't have a poltergeist. We don't live near a train (well- super close). We don't have a cat in heat. We have a 5 year old girl! Her shriek can mean anything. Literally. It could be a fly (not one of those Killer Bees we used to hear were coming to get us, from Mexico). The scream could be due to a certain 10 year old male that also lives in our home (tonight he put a napkin under my fork, when he set the table. She wanted to put my napkin under my fork. For the record, it was Andrew's job to set the table.) Perhaps it's a crumb of bread she found on her arm (she thought her skin was falling off). Maybe it's actually legit, and she fell down the stairs. The thing is. . . you never know. But 99 out of 100 times, the scream is a complete and total over-reaction.
She's had some doozies lately.
1. We were packing up to leave the beach. It was 8am on a Saturday. We were running up and down stairs trying to get out of the house, so we could hurry up and get on the road, for our 6 hour ride home. I had just turned away from the car, and was about to run back up the steps, when there it was- The Scream. I have basically no reaction to her, but Andrew yells, "WHATT????" It turns out . . . there was a bee- in the general area of the driveway. Shut the front door! A bee?! Outside?! In the summer????? OMG. Get out of town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. One day, when we were at the beach, we went to the sound side. We wanted to do some crabbing and enjoy the calm water. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of seaweed growing around where we were, and there were crabs (thus the whole crabbing adventure). Alexa had a complete freak out. She was walking on the bottom of the sound, then felt the seaweed or a crab, or something creepy, and went running and shrieking across the water. It was not a shining moment in my parenting. I couldn't move, I was laughing so hard. Doug came to the rescue. Through my laughter, I felt her panic. I did. I felt terrible for her. But her reaction. . . . it was SOOOOOO over the top. I believe she scared every crab within a one mile radius of where we were. No crabs were caught, for the rest of the afternoon. (on another note- I was really proud of her. While she freaked and swore she'd never get back in the water again. She ended up getting back in the water and walked around. I told her I was proud of her for overcoming her fear. I don't know that I would have.)
3. We were eating s'mores one night. She was soooo excited to eat it. It may have been the first s'more of her life. Surely not. What a parenting fail! Anyway- after the first bite, the marshmallow started oozing out the sides. It got on her hands. Somehow she got it in her hair and then she was running and shrieking all the way upstairs.
Up until this point, my reaction to her is almost always NO reaction. None whatsoever. I was thinking yesterday, after a shrieking incident that even if her arm came off, and blood was shooting out of her shoulder, I wouldn't visibly freak out. I have to under-react to her. It's reverse psychology. Plus, I am afraid that if I allow myself to react, then it'll just mock her. While I don't understand all of the many emotions of Alexa. I most definitely don't appreciate all of her emotions. I definitely wish she would chill. But- her feelings are important to her. I don't want to be the one to belittle her feelings. Plenty of other people will in her lifetime. But sometimes, they're just too funny not to laugh. One day, she'll be able to laugh at them too- I hope.
We don't have a poltergeist. We don't live near a train (well- super close). We don't have a cat in heat. We have a 5 year old girl! Her shriek can mean anything. Literally. It could be a fly (not one of those Killer Bees we used to hear were coming to get us, from Mexico). The scream could be due to a certain 10 year old male that also lives in our home (tonight he put a napkin under my fork, when he set the table. She wanted to put my napkin under my fork. For the record, it was Andrew's job to set the table.) Perhaps it's a crumb of bread she found on her arm (she thought her skin was falling off). Maybe it's actually legit, and she fell down the stairs. The thing is. . . you never know. But 99 out of 100 times, the scream is a complete and total over-reaction.
She's had some doozies lately.
1. We were packing up to leave the beach. It was 8am on a Saturday. We were running up and down stairs trying to get out of the house, so we could hurry up and get on the road, for our 6 hour ride home. I had just turned away from the car, and was about to run back up the steps, when there it was- The Scream. I have basically no reaction to her, but Andrew yells, "WHATT????" It turns out . . . there was a bee- in the general area of the driveway. Shut the front door! A bee?! Outside?! In the summer????? OMG. Get out of town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. One day, when we were at the beach, we went to the sound side. We wanted to do some crabbing and enjoy the calm water. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of seaweed growing around where we were, and there were crabs (thus the whole crabbing adventure). Alexa had a complete freak out. She was walking on the bottom of the sound, then felt the seaweed or a crab, or something creepy, and went running and shrieking across the water. It was not a shining moment in my parenting. I couldn't move, I was laughing so hard. Doug came to the rescue. Through my laughter, I felt her panic. I did. I felt terrible for her. But her reaction. . . . it was SOOOOOO over the top. I believe she scared every crab within a one mile radius of where we were. No crabs were caught, for the rest of the afternoon. (on another note- I was really proud of her. While she freaked and swore she'd never get back in the water again. She ended up getting back in the water and walked around. I told her I was proud of her for overcoming her fear. I don't know that I would have.)
3. We were eating s'mores one night. She was soooo excited to eat it. It may have been the first s'more of her life. Surely not. What a parenting fail! Anyway- after the first bite, the marshmallow started oozing out the sides. It got on her hands. Somehow she got it in her hair and then she was running and shrieking all the way upstairs.
Up until this point, my reaction to her is almost always NO reaction. None whatsoever. I was thinking yesterday, after a shrieking incident that even if her arm came off, and blood was shooting out of her shoulder, I wouldn't visibly freak out. I have to under-react to her. It's reverse psychology. Plus, I am afraid that if I allow myself to react, then it'll just mock her. While I don't understand all of the many emotions of Alexa. I most definitely don't appreciate all of her emotions. I definitely wish she would chill. But- her feelings are important to her. I don't want to be the one to belittle her feelings. Plenty of other people will in her lifetime. But sometimes, they're just too funny not to laugh. One day, she'll be able to laugh at them too- I hope.
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