A post on Will

I was reading through the last several posts and realized I had given considerable attention to Dominic and Molly, but not as much to William.  This happened for several reasons.  But, perhaps the biggest reason is because William is very self-sufficient.  I realized a few months ago that William was no longer my "problem" child.  Not that I've ever had a real problem child, but Will had more than his fair share of events that caused me to lose my temper.  Whether he has matured out of it, or I've come to understand my second son more, I'm not sure.  But, either way, Will and I no longer butt heads as frequently as I remember we did.

That being said, let me give an update on William.  Since turning 4, he has found more and more things that he didn't like doing when he was 3, but now that he is 4, he does.  Eating vegetables is something that neither age will own, though.  However, root beer is something the 4-year-old Will enjoys much more than the 3-year-old Will, by his own admission.

I love the way he will phrase things.  I don't know if he uses more words than necessary, or he just speaks so precisely that it feels like it.  I have tried to listen a little more carefully to his phrasing to give a good example.  I think I've zeroed in on the fact he does not use the the contraction "won't".  He always says: "will not".  As in, "I will not spill it" as he takes a nearly full cup of juice into the living room.  Or "I will not fall" as he climbs precariously on stacks of boxes.

We like to play a game called "Declarative Statements by William Buschelman".  He doesn't know he is playing, but Eric and I love it all the same.  This game occurs when William just says something out of the blue that is irrefutable.  For example, nearly daily he will declare: "I like sugar".  As sure as he is about most of his positions (for instance on a recent drive home during the early evening he refused to concede that it was a beautiful day because it was no longer day as the sun was descending in the west), he recently has started adding "Right, Mom?" to many of them just to give his opinions that much more weight.

William has a very vivid imagination.  I realized one day as I tried to get him to be quiet during Mass, that he may not have the ability to turn it off.  He is so intent on playing out whatever story is going on in his mind, that he isn't intentionally disobeying, he just wants to get to the end of the plot.  When he puts on a costume, he is in character.  Always.  For a few days, he was either Mario or Luigi.  We were playing soccer and every time I mistakenly called him "Will" as I was giving directions, he would correct me in a gruff voice to call him by his correct name: "Luigi".  Though, good on him, he was never truly offended, but always said it good-naturedly.  Unfortunately, as he stopped to correct me, Dom got several goals.  Ah well.  We all have our priorities.