He tells me how he's feeling in a song

My Sean is a bit of an emotional stuffer. He tries his best to place his feelings down deep, and tries to make do with what's going on in his little head and heart. There was a time a few months ago when he decided to sleep on the floor of his bedroom. His explanation was that he thought it was cool. This went on for a week or so. We wondered why in the world he would want to sleep on the floor. Then, after a week he asked a question about the smoke detector, and went on to tell us about a fire drill at school. As it turns out, he was terrified of sleeping on the top bunk because he learned that when there was a fire, he should "get low and go". I felt awful knowing that he had all these fears building inside him, and we were able to have a long conversation about his feelings. I am learning to ask subtle questions and look for clues about how he's feeling. I think he found a new outlet--singing. Last week while I was preparing dinner, Sean was in the kitchen with me. He proceeded to sing "I am a Child of God". As I listened to the words, my heart felt a little sad when he sang "....has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear"--and then he stayed on the same note and quickly sang the words..."except for mom." We were able to have a conversation about what was bothering him, and I apologized. (I feel like I'm getting really good at apologizing as a mom!) Fast forward one week, and another song came. This time he began..."I know a name, a glorious name; dearer than any other. Listen, I'll whisper the name to you, it is the name of (I was bracing myself to hear the word 'father', but he continued)...MOTHER"!!! I listened for a few more seconds to make sure he wasn't going to add in his own negative words in place of the original ones, but it didn't come. My heart melted a little bit, and I had a warm fuzzy the rest of the afternoon. He even saved a seat for me in the van because he wanted to sit by me. It's amazing what we will hear if we are listening to it. I wonder how often his hints have gone un-noticed. Probably more often than I would like to know. But at the end of the day, I am grateful for the opportunity to apologize and "try a little harder to do a little better". I am more committed than ever to listening to his songs for the between the lines messages he sends.

Here he is with his faux-hawk. We had just cut his hair, and he wanted to look just like his ever stylish cousin, Kramer.