I tend to overreact to things.

I tend to overreact to things.

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But I wasn’t always like this. Actually, back in elementary school, I tended to under-react to things. I wasn’t particularly hyperactive during class. I was quiet and liked to keep my head down.

Not to say that I wasn’t a happy kid. I mean, what did I have to worry about? I had barely any homework and played outside all day. I had friends. My parents fed me. The freeloading life was pretty swag.

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But I guess in elementary school, I wasn’t a very emotive kid. Or something like that. I suppose. I really didn’t notice. Regardless, in my later elementary years, my teachers took notice of my subdued behavior.

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This happened more than once.

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I didn’t really think much of it. Maybe my teachers were just concerned for their students.

Fifth grade was a particularly fun year for me. I had a young, super-cool teacher (who taught us the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language) I really liked my classmates (especially the kid next to me who taught me how to play Yu-Gi-Oh… ooooh, grade school crush) and I got to race cars made from K’nex. Heck, in elementary school terms, I was pretty much living the life.

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That year, each student had to sit down with their teacher and talk with them one-on-one. Like a parent-teacher conference, minus the parents. I wasn’t too concerned since I wasn’t a troublemaker. Plus, as previously stated, I loved my teacher because she was super-cool.

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Whoa, hold up. What? She had something to tell me? I did something wrong? My young mind was thrown into uncertainty. Oh no, I must be in trouble! The suspense! Say it, just say it now!

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Apparently…

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I needed to smile more? What? But why? I was perfectly content. Did it not show? Did I not smile? Did I look, like, perpetually depressed all the time or something?

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Wait, she said it again!! This wasn’t a joke!

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And, if I didn’t smile enough, maybe I was depressed! Oh no!! Have I been secretly unhappy this whole time while I thought I was happy?

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AHHH!! IF MY SUPER-COOL TEACHER THOUGHT I WAS UNHAPPY, IT MUST BE TRUE!!

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That day, little elementary school me went home very confused.

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How have I not been displaying my happiness? Was I unhappy? I consulted my closest confidant.

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I was playing Pokemon. So that pretty much answered the question for me.

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Still, this was a problem. So, like how Ash resolved to become a Pokemon master, I made my own resolution that night.

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I walked into class confidently the next day, ready to show that I was a DARN CHEERFUL KID and I CAN SMILE, DARNIT! I just needed the right opportunity.

I found my chance when my super-cool teacher announced that we would be raising animals that year. That caught my attention. Animals?! No way! I had always wanted a pet. I was very excited.

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WAIT! I MUST DEMONSTRATE ENTHUSIASM.

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In fact, each kid would get their own animals to bring home.

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Specifically, a pair of fiddler crabs.

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In my determination to show that I had enthusiasm, and the fact that I was actually extremely thrilled about this guys, omg look at their little claws, meant that I was soon reduced to a jumble of breathless chatter and wildly waving arms.

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I was a mess. A very excited mess. And the thing is, I never stopped being an excited mess. To this day, I gesture wildly, overreact to everything, and generally make a fool of myself.

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At least my teacher never questioned my emotional health again.

13 thoughts on “I tend to overreact to things.

  1. Oh My Gosh. My teachers were always telling me that I was crazy and used my arms too much. To this day, whenever I get extremely excited I do the EXACT same thing. The last photo looked just like me when I’m excited. But, the stoic you was cool too. You were like that one Hyperbole and a Half post where she was sad for no reason and eventually became completely emotionless……. except for the fact that you were emotionless and became all crazy LIKE ME!! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!! hohoho. hee hee hee hee. And I thought my jokes were bad. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t have my boy pull your head off. How about a magic trick? I’m gonna make this pencil disappear. It’s… It’s gone. Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn’t cheap. You ought to know, you bought it. OMIGOSH! Here I am quoting The Dark Knight! I’M GOING CRAZY!! Well, at least you’re going crazy too. Yeah for overly expressive people!

  2. Your beginning was totally from Spongebob’s Chocolate with Nuts episode. Almost forgot that. I LOVE THAT EPISODE SO MUCH!!! (sigh) There I go being overly expressive again.

        • No worries, I’ve always been out of the loop! As one who didn’t grow up with cable, I’ve never seen any of those classic cartoons (like Rugrats, Rocko’s Modern Life, etc…)

        • The episode is called Chocolate with Nuts, it came on with the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V episode, and first premiered on June 1, 2002 (information provided from IMDb). Whether it comes on any more, I do not know. It can be found on Netflix and on The Internet, though. It is one of my favorites.

  3. I was like that when I was a kid too! I don’t tend to overreact to things though. I found out that even when I had to force it onto the surface, my excitement for things got lost on the way to my face and gestures.

    So I’m not very good at expressing myself on the outside. People still wonder about me — but not as much as in primary school!

    (Also, I never entirely got into the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!; the only person who would play with me was my sister, and she always cheated.)

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