Golly Mary -
I remember those days! At 3 my son seemed as "unsocialized" as my cousin's 18 month old! I could finally feel like I had someone who could behave in public at age 5. I read "The Phantom Tollboth" and "Ozma of Oz" to him at this age, and didn't think it was odd that he sat, listened and followed the story beautifully, for hours at a time if I would let him. DS9 had a tantrum while we tried to watch the movie "Fly Away Home." He paniced whenever the Father got into that little airplane. (We had fast-forwarded through the bad set-up in the other room.)
Oh yes - age 3 is when I told the daycare people that if they had a full time slot, please sign me up. Up until then I had fought to limit work to part time and spent every possible moment with him. I just faced that he had a lot more energy than I did!
Writing this I have to wonder if he's any less mysterious on the inside now than he was then - we're all just so used to it! Plus I think that the mysterious inside just shows less than before.
I'm not sure if I have a point, just to enjoy the moments - take as much care of your self and your adult relationships as you can, and try to gather a core of supportive adults and teens who can take some of the intensity off you. Good luck with the testing!
Trinity
