I remember my brother (8 years older than me) standing on the shore of Depot Pond in all of it’s serene glory, taking one deep breath, and belching out the entire alphabet. It was a sound to behold, most often followed by roaring applause. (He is, after all, one of 7 children.) The sound traveled clear across the pond and later we’d hear that yes, in fact, our far off neighbors had heard it clearly.
30 Years later my nearly 7 year old son is becoming an accomplished burpist. He’s quite talented.
But something has changed. My wiring is different. Now, as soon as it begins I am completely disgusted and want to banish him to the deepest recesses of the house until he graduates from this stage. It is a immediately intense, guttural reaction. And considering the above memory, it’s rather surprising.
The bad news is, based on my brother’s example, there are years and years of this to come. If I did banish him, it’s likely he’d be 30 before I saw him again.
The good news is that my brother, at 44, no longer burps publicly, and has perfect table manners.
My mom said it best: It’s just a phase…
(But Mom, how long will it last?)
What phases have driven you nuttiest over the years?
by Megin Hatch
Photo graciously provided by Susan Parks, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.
3 responses so far ↓
STL Mom // Sep 25, 2008 at 8:05 am
Oh, my daughter burped at the breakfast table today, and she and her brother had a long, proud conversation about how it was the loudest burp she had ever made, louder than even a grown-up’s burp, etc., etc. Lovely conversation!
The worst phase for me is the potty-trained but still having accidents phase my son has gone through (please let him still not be going through it!). I mean, it’s great that he can clean the bathroom himself, throw away the cleaning wipes, change his own clothes and put the wet ones in the laundry basket — but if he can do all that, why can’t he just get to the toilet on time!!
Ron // Sep 26, 2008 at 6:25 pm
The worst stage, other than the Pez Collecting stage, is potty training. I remember that my daughter had such a hard time. She would have so much fun, so would hold it forever. Can you imagine me teaching her to poop…she sat on the toilet, I sat on the side of the tub…and I would be singing, “You are a super duper pooper, you know when you have to go….” and there I was with a sticker to give her when she had remembered to wash her hands afterwards!
The best stage was teeth brushing! I would make up songs for all the stages I had to go through…and the teeth brushing song is one both my children still sing and end up laughing hysterically.
hey, as parents, we do what we gotta do! Am i right?!?!?!
Nan // Oct 4, 2008 at 7:31 am
Would you believe, my son JUST walked up to me, gave me a hug, and burped? What’s with that? I am surrounded by small boys who burp and I am pleased to hear that they will have grown out of it by 44!
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