Mitchell is not usually one to show emotion. It takes quite a bit to make him cry. He isn't overtly loving or quick to kiss or hug. He plays it cool... aloof... He's way too cool for his age...
But there is one thing that always gives Mitchell away: when he is happy and content, he skips.
When I drop him off for school in the morning, he doesn't want to give me a kiss goodbye or even give me a hug. He rarely even gives a second glance back at me. If I wasn't watching, I'd think he didn't care if I was ever coming back. But I watch him walk up the walk to the gate, see his friends waiting inside, and he stops walking and starts skipping. I know he is comfortable, secure, and excited.
When I watch him playing in the yard and he is really doing his thing, he skips from one place to another. He skips from the hose to the rope swing, then skips over to the slide to pour his bucket of water down it.
He even skips around the park after school with his friends. While they are walking or running, he is skipping.
I know he is having a tough day when he doesn't skip at all.
A tough kid for me to read at the best of times, I fully appreciate Mitchell's skip as a clue to how he is feeling. I love that skip...
Mitchell is a lot like his dad Matt was as a child. Not cuddly, didn't show much emotion, but full of energy, confidence, and loyalty to his brother and sister. He rarely sat still; he was always hopping, running, or skipping, while he was telling everyone what to do. One of his childhood nicknames (from Mary Brush, and Max and Jake Fletcher) was "skippy." (Grandma Kathy)
ReplyDelete