Martin has two dramatic persona. Maybe superhero terms can describe them best. The first persona, Super Charming Child, a little person with a winning grin, a jolly laugh, and an ability to crack up strangers when he bursts in a door and yells, cheeringly, "I'd like a bowl of chocolate ice cream, please."
And then there is the second persona, Contrary Guy, a being that resists reality in all its forms, who insists that the day is Monday when it's Sunday, who is sure that a book is in our house even though it was returned to the library the day before, and who repeats these statements that counter reality like some yogi with a working mantra.
Most of us have our Contrary Guy moments. We are desperate - sometimes - for the world to be other than it is. But we are usually more private about it. We whisper prayers. We tell our best friend over coffee. We write it down in a notebook and then close the cover. But Martin - like every kid, I guess - is Contrary Guy for all to see.
How do you help a kid see that this urge to change things will be with him forever without sinking him and yourself into total depression? Is that why yogis have mantras?
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