Yesterday, Cody came in the kitchen where I was working and said, “Mom, can we change my brother’s name to ‘Max’?” I laughed and asked him why. “I don’t like the name Logan,” he said.
To which Logan indignantly replied, “I’m not Max! I’m Logan!”
I explained that it isn’t nice to say you don’t like someone’s name and that I had picked Logan’s name out especially because I love it. Cody wasn’t convinced. He still thinks Logan should be Max.
However, this is the same kid who, a few weeks ago, decided that his name ought to be “Code,” not Cody. He insisted for a whole day that his name was Code.
I don’t know where Cody gets his melodramatic ways. He makes these comments/complaints out of nowhere that sometimes make me feel terrible.
“I hate this house!” he’ll say. “It’s too big! I want to live with Grandma and Grandpa!”
Or “I don’t like my room to be blue. I want to paint it red!”
Or “I hate my bed! It’s too soft!”
Or the worst, “I hate living here! I want a different family!”
All said out of the blue with no provocation at all.
Is Cody truly unhappy? Sometimes I’m not sure. He can be very introspective, thoughtful, imaginative, sensitive and he seems to have an artist’s temperament. There’s sort of this tortured, depressed vibe about him at times. I mean, the kid doesn’t even like cookies, cake, chocolate or most kinds of candy! (Is he really mine?)
On the other hand, he sings sweetly, dances with no inhibition whatsoever, and seems to thoroughly enjoy life much of the time. Even though he’s a big kid for his age, he’s definitely not athletically inclined. Given that he trips over his own feet and runs into walls regularly, I highly doubt he’ll have the hand-eye and foot-eye coordination necessary to excel at sports, which is totally fine with me. I’d love to have a son who can relate to my way of thinking (non-athletic, bookworm, creator).
Sometimes I feel like an outsider in my own family, but then, I felt that way growing up too. Maybe Cody feels the same way. Maybe he gets more overlooked than I realize, being the middle child.
I think I’ll try giving him some extra one-on-one attention and see if that curbs the dramatic statements.
At least he keeps life from being dull.
