This is one of my favorite pictures of Richard when he was very young. He is so pensive looking, so uncharacteristically quiet for the moment.A few minutes after I shot this picture, I called him to come along and he answered that I had his name wrong.
"What? Well, then who are you?" I asked.
"A stranger lad." And so for about a week, he was the Stranger Lad. It was the only thing he would answer to. He was really into it. He wanted different books read and different foods and to wear his shirts with different pants than he usually did. Since I was in school at the time, not only did I have to call him Stranger Lad, but so did his child care provider* and all of the other children at day care. Even Julie had to try to say Stranger Lad.
And then, one day, he was back to being him again. When I asked him where the Stranger Lad was, he said he had missed his own toys and so gone home. I told him that I had really missed him, but the Stranger Lad was nice. And he told me I was a better mom than the Stranger Lad had.
*Which was fine by her, since her name was Yolanda, and he called her My Landa.
7 comments:
Charming and precious. That great imagination runs in the genes!
Tabor
That's about the cutest thing I've ever heard. I do like that picture, too. I've heard this story before, but I had forgotten it. :)
what a darling photo. I can see why you like it. He was precocious, wasn't he?
He had a great imagination. I wonder if young children are allowed to have imaginations today. Their time seems completely taken up with dancing lessons, sports, etc.
Great! Now I can tease Richard even more than I do now! :-)
Love the photo. What a creative young man! I miss the episodes like that from the years I was raising my kids. Those were the best.
I think its wonderful that you allowed him his time as Stranger Lad. The thought also crossed my mind that as great a storyteller as you are, he came by it honestly.
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