It was really cute when Cameron started to make animal sounds. He first learned duck. “What does a duck say, Cameron?”: “Cack. Cack. Cack.” Soon his animal repertoire expanded and he could tell you what all the animals on Old MacDonad’s farm sound like. His favourite animal sound was lion. Or dragon. Or dinosaur. Or tiger or bear. “What does a lion say?” “ROOOOAAAARRRRR!” Cameron would reply, opening his mouth wide and looking as menacing as possible.
His roars moved with him in his imagination and soon he was roaring without our prompts. He’d crawl up to us roaring away, claiming to be a lion and we had better watch out because he was definitely going to eat us. He’d shake his stuffed lion at his stuffed tiger while they tried to out-roar each other. He would sit in the back seat of the car making roars which begged us to guess what animal he was (Lion? Dragon? Bear?) amidst giggles.
(Don’t let anyone ever tell you little boys aren’t loud).
As time progressed, Cameron’s favourite animal changed. He insisted on carrying a sheep with him. He begged for the kitty cat stuffed animal at the store. He practised his mewing and his baaing. Tigers and lions and dinosaurs are still definitely cool but not quite roar worthy. I rarely hear roars during play-time any more.
But I still hear roars.
I hear a roar when Cameron and his friend forget how to share.
I hear a roar when an unknown dog tries to introduce himself to my son.
I hear a roar when Mommy and Daddy disagree with Cameron.
If you watch Cameron’s face during one of these roars, you won’t see glee and merriment. You see hurt. You see fear. You see anger. These are brand new emotions for such a little guy as he starts to explore the world on his own. Now he is one against other people, one against the environment, and sometimes one against the people who love him most. He is not quite sure how to handle any of it yet. So he roars. He roars to assert his dominance. He roars to protect himself. He roars to be heard. He roars because he is unable to process the feelings he is feeling.
Sometimes, I wish I could roar. I wish I could stop the world around me with one loud, startling yell. I wish I could express all the feelings bubbling up inside of me as noisily as possible. But the world doesn’t work that way.
My job as a mother is to teach this precious little boy how to process the experiences that this world will throw at him. I hope he grows into a man who will acknowledge pain instead of burying it; who will bravely face the appropriate fears; who will approach volatile situations with grace.
But what my Mama-heart really wants is to give my little boy a world that will never be hurtful, never be scary, never go against him. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work that way.
ROAR!
How do your children handle those great big feelings they feel?
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Yes, boys ARE loud! :) Cameron is adorable.
I hear you – I want to wrap my kids up in cotton wool sometimes. But I know that they need to face the world, hurt, fear and all that. I just need to make sure I’m here to be their safe place always.
Alison recently posted..Digging Deep
I so hope I am always their safe place. That is my goal. Such a beautiful thought.
Laura recently posted..Roar
Cameron has an awesome ROOOOOAAAARRR!
So much cuteness!
The roar is SUPER cute – except when he’s scaring small babies and animals. ;)
Laura recently posted..Roar
Boys are SO loud. And I have 4 of them! Ugh!
I hate watching my kids learn different emotions like this. I wish I could just shield them from everything, but I know that they have to learn it. I can only make sure they know I’ll always be here as a safe place to land.
Kimberly recently posted..Essence Of Now: Rainy Days
Emotion is one of those hard things when it comes to boys. How do we teach them how to properly handle them? And it hurts so much to watch them experience all the negative emotions. But without them, how could they possibly appreciate the positive ones? Maybe, helping them navigate the world of emotions is also one of the blessings of motherhood. Just maybe.
Laura recently posted..Thankscomplaining
Life would be easier if we could roar at it wouldn’t it? I think your toddler is onto something!
Natalie recently posted..A Thankful Thursday
I know right? I think we should all take a moment out of each day and just roar. Loud and free. Let it all out.
Laura recently posted..Thankscomplaining
interesting read – I similarly have a roaring 3 year old!
he struggles to deal with any emotion that makes him cross or angry e.g. shop being closed, someone disagreeing with him, someone giving him the wrong thing
i’m trying to get him to verbalise what is wrong (and trying to pre-empt feelings and identify feelings from people in books/tv) but its not worked yet (2mths in).
Any magic ideas as to how to cure the roaring??!!
Alison