Intro-extro-vert

It seems that the labels "introvert" and "extrovert" are two that people are eager place upon your kid. When Jack is acting shy, I tend to feel the need to apologize for his antisocial behavior, saying, "He just needs some time to warm up." On the other hand, when he is acting extroverted, I also feel the need to apologize for his unrestrained howl of "Cookie!" during a church service (after finishing off the one we swiped from coffee hour in hopes of getting through an extra 5 minutes of the service in peace).

So far, Jack has exhibited a wide range of introversion and extroversion, and as an introvert myself, I find myself particularly fascinated by his range. You be the judge...

The introvert: Party at Cousin Oden's house for Uncle Michael's graduation celebration last Saturday. Now this is a home Jack frequents almost every day--he is familiar with the landscape and the people. To our surprise, he clams up and buries his face in his mother's legs for at least two hours. A single glance in his direction by friend or stranger sends him spiraling into the safety of Mom's thighs. At about 9:30 or so, he manages to drop the act--maybe he was getting punchy because it was so late, or maybe it was the two sippy cups of sparkling apple juice I gave him--anyway, he manages to put on a last minute show for the crowd by emptying out the beer cooler with cousin Oden and freely mingles while sucking down copious quantities of ice cubes.

The extrovert: Friday night (tonight) our family heads to Benny's Grill in Hastings for a Blue Drifters gig. I expect Mr. Shy Guy to appear at any moment. Instead, Jack owns the place. He flashes his smile, bribing the barista to give him a free cookie, runs the length of the place at least 40 times--a few of which find him in the kitchen--all while shouting "Hi!" to everyone he sees. Granted, the place only had a total of 11 people at its peak, but who would have guessed he would be whooping it up with strangers in this strange place after last weekend? (and by now you may be wondering what kind of parents would allow such behavior in a public establishment).

Anyway, the jury is out, and we love him no matter what -vert he is.