Howard Dean Reincarnated

My son, being the typical toddler boy that he is, is rambunctious and full of energy.  When he gets really excited, he tends to let out these screams.  We have to remind him frequently to use his inside voice.  So the other day, we were in our basement playing ball (i.e. my son was practicing hitting a ball with a bat, one of his favorite activities).  He got pretty excited about a particular strike out (because he just doesn't understand that strike outs are bad and he thinks it is funny when we tell him that he shouldn't want to strike out).  He let out this scream that instantly made me laugh, and then I said, "What are you, Howard Dean reincarnated?"  (I, ofcourse, don't believe in reincarnation, but that's not the point.)

Let's pause for a moment and reflect on Howard Dean.  Do you know who Howard Dean is?  I don't blame you if you don't.  He was a governor of Vermont for many years and a presidential candidate in the 2004 elections.  Remember him yet?  I really shouldn't remember him.  First, I don't follow politics that closely; and second, he is a democrat, I don't follow them closely either (no offense to you if you are one).  Maybe you will remember this.

Howard Dean is, unfortunately for him, best remembered for the "Dean Scream" a.k.a. the "I Have A Scream Speech".  Following a loss in one of the early primaries, he gave a speech meant to rally his supporters.  He had been suffering from the flu.  When he gave his speech, he was sweaty and red in the face.  Out of pure excitement and emotion, he let's out this crazy scream.  The media, being who they are, aired the scream nonstop, painting Dean as as someone who had either gone off the deep end, was three sheets to the wind when he gave the speech, or a couple of french fries short of a Happy Meal (gotta love euphemisms).  It would ultimately lead to his downfall.  I kind of feel bad for the guy.

But I digress.  None of the Howard Dean information really has an important role in this post except for the the scream.  So here it is for your viewing pleasure.  Now you can hear what my son sounded like.  The quality of the video isn't great, but who cares?  It's the sound that is important anyway.

So there you have it.  I don't know why, but when I think of my son screaming like that, it reminds me of Howard Dean screaming like that, and it makes me giggle every time.  And once I'm done giggling about it and realize how silly it is that I am giggling about it, I take time to contemplate whether or not I'm mature enough to be raising children (ok, not really), but that's a different issue.

Sincerely,

The Mother of the Dean Scream-er