Leif Throwing a Fit at Minka-En, Japan - September 6, 1981 - Age 6

Peter W. remarked at one time that Leif looks so happy in his pictures, especially as a child, and I said that it deceptive because most of the time when people take photos, they insist that the people in the picture smile and will do everything they can to get them to smile. I also liked to take photos of my boys when they were thoughtful, pensive, or acting silly, and I've posted some of those of Leif. However, we rarely take photos of our children when they are mad or crying. This photo is one of those few.

I no longer remember why Leif was so upset and "threw a fit," but I certainly do remember him doing it. We had taken Peter W.'s new boss and his wife to the Minka-En, which is an open air folk museum of old style Japanese houses. It's a very interesting place. For some reason, Leif got upset and started arguing and crying. It was very embarrassing, and I had to hold him and try to calm him down. Peter W. took this photo while I was trying to do that. Look how big he is at 6 years. It was not easy to hold him!

Leif did not throw that kind of a fit very often, but when he did, it was a big challenge to know how to handle it as a parent. It usually stemmed from some kind of frustration he was feeling. As he grew older, he learned to keep his emotions more under control and stopped this kind of behavior.

I doubt that he would remember either Minka-En or the incident if he were still alive, but he might. He had a terrific memory and amazed me at times with what he could recall, even being able to practically recite movie scripts or describe a car trip turn by turn when he was only six.

If you'd like to see what Minka-En is, click the name and visit the website.

Leif in Dartmouth, England - June 1980 - Age 5

Quite some time ago I wrote about our adventure in Dartmouth England in June 1980 and posted a photo of Leif rowing our rowboat at the age of five. I recounted the crazy story of him running away from me and me chasing him down with a wooden spoon. There are no photos of that, which is probably a good thing, but this photo of him in the city shows a lot better than the rowboat just how small he was and how easily it would have been for him to disappear and be lost. I'm glad that didn't happen. At that age, Leif was good at disappearing, as he had done in the Akihabara district in Tokyo and tried to do in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. He was unconcerned, as kids usually are, unaware what being lost and without mommy really means. He came close in Akihabara, when he did realize he was alone in a sea of strangers he couldn't talk to and was smart enough to stand in one place until we found him.

Five was a pivotal age for Leif in several ways. It was during that year that he stopped running off from me when we were going places and got control of his temper.

It was a year of extraordinary travel and experiences. We moved from Germany to Japan, visiting England, family in mainland USA, and Hawaii on the way.

The name is Bond, Leif Bond

From the time he was tiny, Leif loved cars. He was particularly fascinated with the Lotus Esprit he saw in the James Bond movie, Moonraker,in 1979 when he was four-and-a-half years old.

We were in Innsbruck, Austria, and decided to take the boys to the movie as a treat. We all enjoyed it! Then we made the mistake of going into a department store and heading for the toy department, which was up on the third or fourth floor. He spotted a toy version of the famous car that went underwater, and he wanted it! The toy was one we could have gotten for less than half the price back at the army base where we lived. It was really an exorbitant amount, and Leif had no money he had saved for things he wanted on the trip, so we refused to get it for him.

Well, he wasn't going without it, even if it did cost $13 for the small metal car. Leif was usually a fairly even tempered child, but he did have a temper that raised it's ugly head now and then. He threw the biggest screaming fit I had ever seen him throw, and it was mighty embarrassing! Since we were the only Americans around, and the only people speaking English, it was even worse.

We tried to get him calmed down, and thought we had, but as we walked toward the stairway, he saw a big round column, about the size of a telephone pole, and wrapped himself around it. Leif was always strong, and he was amazingly strong for a kid who wasn't even five years old yet! It took both Peter and I to peel him off that pillar, and even then it was a big struggle. We were sure people must have thought we were terrible parents, with a child fighting that hard to stay there and not come with us, but at last we thought we had him calmed down and started down the stairs.

The stairs weren't such a big problem. There wasn't anything interesting on them, and we got down a floor. Then he ran for another round pillar! Back to square one.

By a series of grab-the-pillar and drag the feet maneuvers, Leif managed to make it very difficult to move him out of and away from the store! I was mortified. Eventually, though, he gave up and we finally made it to the car. It's tough being a "mean" mom who sticks by what she says!

Eventually, and not too long after this, Leif did get the precious Lotus Esprit. I found it at his apartment after he died. That was one really special toy!