My boys by any other name...

I've been trying to think of tag names for my boys so I don't have to use their real names. Finally, I think I've found my answer:  WINK and SMILE. Yes, like the song.  Years ago, my husband and I were given those nicknames by our college friends so it seems appropriate.  But it's even more fitting because my 7 year old's (WINK) defining feature is his beautiful big eyes.  My 5 year old gets out of trouble, and will one day make little girls swoon, with his SMILE.

My husband and I took the boys to a science fair today. WINK had been looking forward to it for weeks. There were a few breakdowns, but only a few.  SMILE cried because he didn't want to launch the rocket DAD made.  Then, later, he screamed in the hallway when DAD suggested going back to a room they had just left to retrieve something that had fallen off of a "bee hummer" one of the kids had made (a bee hummer is a contraption that buzzes when it is swung around by a string).

I wasn't there for the second tantrum, however.  I was flying solo at a birthday party for a dear friend's daughter. It was a little strange being the only adult without children but it was a necessary move on my part.  WINK would have most likely sobbed if forced to leave the science fair until the last atom had been counted (or something "science-y" like that) and SMILE, already tired from being at the fair, would have had a screaming tantrum the second he didn't win Hot Potato.  Or maybe the game would have been played slightly differently from how he is used to playing it and the whole thing would have been deemed "stupid".   My friends know WINK is a sweet little guy and they know, I hope, that they can't take it personally. But I still cringe. I know he can't help it, that the tantrums come from frustration due to his various  delays and, in many cases, fatigue (very much like a toddler's outbursts) but...still. There's no way to make a room of mostly 7 year old and younger kids understand such strange behavior.

So, I'm cautious. Maybe more than I need to be. After all, it's possible both of them wouldn't have "tantrumed" (verb)  at all. But I spend my days anticipating the next problem or obstacle for my boys and I think, this time, I made the right call.