My 5 year old son, C, is one of a kind. He is the most imaginative person I have ever met. He lives in a world full of magic, but visits our mundane planet to spend time with the people he loves (and for the chocolate). 

The sensations on this planet can be hard for him to handle. Some noises are so loud or distracting that he has to plug his ears. Some places that are so quiet that it makes his head hurt. He is afraid of the dark, but bright lights make him edgy (even if he doesn't realize it). His sense of smell and taste can be troublesome too. He's actually part wolf, and that makes him an extra good smeller and taster. Flavors and scents that might be pleasant to me are overwhelming to him.

Worse than the smells and sounds on Earth are the crazy customs of Earthlings. They insist that you stuff your feet into uncomfortable shoes every single day instead of running barefoot as nature intended. Their silly human clothes have scratchy tags, tricky zippers, and pinchy spots, making it impossible to relax or to move the way he wants to. Plus? They have this ridiculous idea that clothes be divided into girls and boys sections. As if genetalia were a requirement for color preferences.

Then there are the people, themselves. Impossible creatures! They don't understand him at all. Even though he mastered Earth language at an early age, he has a habit of forgetting it when he gets nervous, and humans definitely make him nervous. Maybe it's because he never really knows what they are going to do? They are endlessly confusing, and it can be hard to tell which ones are friendly and which ones are dangerous. 

Also, humans have WAY too many rules, and most of them don't even make sense. Everyone thinks they can tell him what to do, where to go, how to act, what to say, even who to be. Sometimes it feels like he has no control over his own life, and that makes him angry.

I'm his mom, and I love him just the way he is. I always will. I don't want to change him, but I do need to find a way to make him feel more at home here on Earth. If only all of these humans would learn to loosen up a little.