Voicing Displeasure

Micah's speech is coming along nicely. Which is kind of par for the course since we're getting him his own Voice. But the fact of the matter is, even though his speech is making progress by leaps and bounds, you've still gotta listen more with your heart than your ears to understand him.

We're so grateful that Micah is surrounded by so many people that love him. More and more frequently I'm hearing others tell me that they heard Micah say this or Micah said that. And while I don't doubt for one minute that he's making an effort at saying those things, I know for a fact that they're hearing it with their heart rather than their ears. The general public still hears yells and grunts when Micah is talking.

Our pastor's wife is one of Micah's biggest fans. She also has the power to make the boy do things that I didn't even know he was capable of doing. And he does it willingly and happily. I've told her that she needs to come to my house and give me a class on how to deal with my own son. She's that good.

So the kids are pracicing for the bell choir and Micah had a yellow bell this Sunday. He knows his colors fairly well and was doing a decent job of ringing at the appropriate times. But they're not allowed to touch the clapper inside the bell because it's on a spring and could easily get messed up. That is the one hard and fast rule - don't touch the clapper.

Micah was touching the clapper. The thing was fascinating beyond measure, wiggling back and forth on a little spring, bouncing around just begging to be touched. Clearly he was mesmerized and drawn in by it's magical clapper powers.

The pastor's wife took his bell. Rules are rules and nobody is exempt. I appreciate this. But my boy was not happy with this new turn of events and chose to voice his displeasure. I was not there, but it was relayed to me by The Taker of the Bell that Micah clearly said, "Give that back!"

I have said for years that I'd cry real tears if my boy swore at me. If he would but talk, I wouldn't care what he said. Obviously I lied. My first reaction upon hearing this?

Oh, my. He's a little demanding, don't you think?

But Micah wasn't done yet. He didn't get his bell back, so he yelled, "Now!"

*blink*blink*

How does one teach a boy to speak politely when he rarely speaks? And don't give me that modeling behavior stuff. Since the day he was born I've been voicing my thoughts and reading grocery lists out loud knowing that the more he hears speech the quicker he'll pick it up. To that end, I'm very conscious that little ears are listening to me.

My second reaction on hearing what he'd said was rather delayed. It was more like, "well of course that's what he'd be thinking. I'm so thrilled to hear him say it."

Motherhood. It's never what you'd expect it to be.