Sniff Sniff

The people who know me in real life wouldn't say that I'm a terribly emotional person. They would say I'm not one for grandiose gestures of love and affection, that I'm not a "softy" and that I don't do well with outpourings of emotion. While it is true that I didn't grow up in a very touchy-feely household, and I'm terrible at expressing empathy, the fact remains that I am a total emotional nutcase.

The truth is that I'm very emotional, very huggy-huggy-cuddly-cuddly, and I like nothing better than a good cry. I always cry in movies (even animated ones), I've been known to cry at commercials (notably this series - the damn things get me every time), and even reality TV also brings on the water works (we call Extreme Home Makeover by it's more correct name -"weepy homes"..as in, "Oh no! Mum is watching weepy homes again!) It's not unusual for DH to find me in bed at night, crying over a particularly emotional passage I've just read in a book. Often even going to temple makes me cry, especially if we're singing Ha Tikva. Although there are times when I want DH and the kids to get the heck out of my face, most of the time our home is one that is full of love, hugs, affection and plenty of emotion.

Recently I've discovered that I've passed this trait onto at least one of my kids. The other night DS walks into the room, his face full of distress, his eyes dropping tears. Given our recent dramas, I was immediately worried - "Oh my goodness! Boy, are you okay?"

He just shook his head and looked even more despondent.

"Come, give me a hug. Tell me what's wrong."

... and by now I'm starting to get a little worried. I didn't hear the usual cries of "he pushed me!" "she hit me" "stop it" and "get off" - in fact, it was blissfully quiet until my son walked in looking as though he lost his best friend. So what could possibly invoke this sort of reaction?

He looks up at me, with his huge blue eyes brimming over, and wails, "It's just so SAD!!"

It took a second to realise he was talking about the book he was holding - Isobelle Carmody's A Riddle of Green, part of the Little Fur series. My kid was standing there, clearly distraught...and me being me, I started to laugh - "You're upset about a scene in a book?" He nodded. And kept crying. "It's just so SAD," he said again. It actually took several hugs and several minutes for him to gather himself together, and even though the book was upsetting, he kept on reading well into the night.

Then it occurred to me that this is the same child who cries at the end of movies... even the animated ones. When we have kids, we hope and expect to pass on some of our better traits - the colour of our eyes, our naturally straight teeth, the calm nature of our partner. We don't expect that we will pass on our less positive traits... but then, if what I have given him is a love of literature and a soft heart, I'm pretty okay with that.