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His mother greeted me in a friendly, relaxed manner. Dibs stood beside her quietly. As they started to leave the outer office, his mother said “Say goodbye to...” “Goodbye,” Dibs interrupted to say, flatly, mechanically. “He said goodbye to me before we left my office,” I told his mother. Dibs brightened. “Goodbye, again, Miss A,” he said. “Happy goodbye.”
“Oh look, Mother,” Dibs cried. “The pretty colored dress. Aren’t those pretty? Isn’t the dress pretty?” “Yes,” his mother said. “It is a very pretty dress.” “Colors,” Dibs said. “Beautiful colors.” This was quite different from his usual quiet entrance. His mother smiled. “Dibs insisted on bringing one of his birthday gifts to show you,” she said.
Dibs was anxious to get back to the playroom. He was carrying a large box, apparently containing the birthday gift. “He can explain it to you,” his mother said. “In fact, I’m beginning to think he has all the answers.” There was an unmistakable note of pride in her voice.
Awww
At playroom distinction
An advanced gift for a small kid
Dibs looked at me and grinned. Perhaps this retreat to baby talk was a relief from the pressure of expectations that the birthday gift suggested to him.
Two college girls carrying books walked past the window. They looked up at Dibs leaning out the window. “Hello,” one of the girls said to Dibs. He ignored her. “I said hello,” the girl called out. Dibs continued to ignore her. “Can’t you say hello?” asked the girl. “Can’t you talk? What’s wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?” Dibs did not say a word. He stood looking out the window, watching them in silence.
Why
“Can’t you say hello? Can’t you talk?” he said imitating the girl’s tone of voice. Dibs closed the window with a bang and turned around facing me with his eyes ablaze with anger. “Don’t want to say hello! Won’t speak to them!” Dibs shouted. “Will not talk!” “You watch them and hear them speak to you, but they hurt your feelings and you don’t want to talk to them,” I said. “That’s right,” he said. “People are mean so I don’t talk to them. But I speak to the truck. I say goodbye to the truck.”
Ok
It’ll take my mind off my worries,” he said.
Is he role-playing as his mother or grandmother
What did I tell you?
What did I say?
What did I say?
Listen to me You stupid child.
The song again shows how adults talk to him I called him a stupid child
“Can’t you learn anything? Or do you know and you just won’t answer me?”
I wonder if he’s referencing has Papa or his mom
He ran over to the table, got the nursing bottle, and went back to the sandbox. He lay down and sucked on the bottle like a small baby. He closed his eyes. “When I was a baby,” he said.
“I am not a baby. I was never a baby!”
“If I need your help, you will help,” he said. “If I don’t need, but just want it, you will help.”
Sometimes kids are just like that they don’t need your help but they want it because they want you
Dibs smiled. “You welcomed me!” he cried. He flapped his arms up and down and crowed like a rooster. He laughed. “Happy Dibs,” he shouted.
“Miss A will do it for you, Dibs,” he said. “Miss A will not turn you down.”
He likes having an adult who treats him with compassion
“That’s right,” said Dibs. “I know you will.” He handed me the bottle and the nipple. I put it on for him, returned the bottle to him. He stood in front of me sucking on the bottle, looking steadily at me. “You do not call me stupid,” he said. “I say help, you help. I say I don’t know, you know. I say I can’t, you can.” “And how does that make you feel?” I asked. “Like that,” he said. “I feel.”
He appreciates the fact that she takes the time two be nice to him
Is scoring powder the same as dish soap or Ajax
He turned and looked at me coldly. This sudden reaction of mine was inconsistent. “How can I tell how it tastes unless I taste?” he asked with dignity.
That boy bear learn some other way because he’s going to kill himself that way one day if you like puts something poisonous his mouth
He did. But my reaction disturbed him. He put the scouring powder back on the shelf and gave me a cold look.
She was just concerned for him I didn’t want him to make himself sick
He bit his lip, walked over to the window. His sensitive armor was ready to put on quickly when his feelings were hurt.
“They might break and cut!” he cried. “Are you afraid for me?”
He noticed her concern for him
the boys can be bossy sometimes
“I’ve never made such a wonderful mess in all my life!” he shouted.
He remembered what happened with the paint brush going down the drain so he corrected himself before he made the same mistake again
“That water is too hot, Dibs,” I said. “Use the cold water first.”
Testing his boundaries
“It is hot!” he exclaimed. “You wanted to find out for yourself. Now you know,” I said. “Yes,” Dibs said. “Too hot.”
Why is he worried if he’s old or not
This is very common for children to believe their teachers live in the school. It’s very unnerving for them to see their teacher outside of school as a normal person
He’s good X he’s good at explaining stuff
Interesting interaction
“It says, ‘I am Dibs. I am Dibs. I am Dibs.’” “That’s right!” he cried. “Now get this.” He clicked away on the telegraph set. “I like Dibs. You like Dibs. We both like Dibs,” I read the message back to him. He clapped his hands. “That’s right,” he cried. “We do!” He smiled happily.
I like me. You like me. I will save these messages.”
“Everything under A belongs to you. Everything under my card belongs to me. I’m going to take everything else out of here. One card for you. One card for me. Just our two cards in this box together. And no others.”
“Yes. Just us two. No one else.”
“This is a nice set,” he said. “It was a birthday present. Mother gave it to me. Papa gave me a chemistry set. Dorothy gave me a book. And Grandma gave me a big, beautiful musical top. She sent it to me in the mail. And some jellybeans and some balloons in a box.”
I liked my birthday this year.”
“I’ll have three minutes of just this,”
“I’m being happy,” he said.
“Another day brings me back to the magic room where I do whatever it is I have to do. Today I have planned the things I must do.”
