Not Too Far From the World of Wall-e

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my bus (which, I don't even want to calculate how many minutes of my life are spent waiting for the bus...) I saw a man walking and listening to his iPod. It was clear that he wanted to separate himself from the rest of the world and just linger in his individual reality. It got me to thinking about the Disney movie Wall-e. Now for those who haven't seen it, it truly is a fantastic movie. I was hesitant at first thinking it would be dull, but was pleasantly rewarded with my time deposit devoted to the move. (And with a two-year-old, it was quality family fun.)

In the movie -- which takes place in the future -- humans are pretty much individual islands floating about. Because their bone density is so little (and they are beyond morbidly obese) they move about via little pods and they have absolutely no direct content with any other humans. It's all through technology -- video phones, social networks, etc. In fact, there is one scene where two men are literally right next to each other, but instead of making eye-contact and conversing, they talk to each other through their computer screens. It's a sad fate for the human world.

This man, oblivious to his surroundings, enjoying his own world, made me realize that we may not be too far off from that future depicted in Wall-e. Will we become a society where natural contact becomes obsolete? It makes me look forward to weekends like this when I have a girls night out planned. Social interaction with people face-to-face is so darn important.

Sometimes it's so much easier to send an e-mail then pick up a phone ... but what a difference picking up that phone can make. Keep this in mind the next time you're about to hit send.

Religion

Last night D and I attended a going away party for an old friend of ours. It was good to see some people we haven't seen in years, and it was good to get D out to socialize. My fabulous sister graciously agreed to watch K for us. Of course, we didn't start the night out right, because we told her to be there around 5, so we could have dinner together and hang out with her in advance. Alas, at 5 o'clock ... we were still at Target doing our grocery shopping. (Which is not normal for us, but I had the important matter of getting my hair done in the morning which delayed our weekly trip to get the essentials.)

When we returned home from the party she gave us the report. K had been "pretty" good. But due to her unfamiliarity with the night time routine, he managed to delay his bedtime longer than usually. Of course, I'm used to the throwing the pillow off the bed game, but she is not. Perhaps one of the funniest things was when she told me that he looked at the clock when she told him it was bedtime and he told her no it wasn't. (No, he can't actually read the clock, but D has taught him what 8 o'clock looks like, so if it's not exactly 8 o'clock, he doesn't think it's bedtime -- and this is on a face clock, not a digital clock.)

Then, when it came to story time, he picked one of his Tomi DePaolo books. But it was the book that he chose that was the funny thing. The Clown of God. My sister was a little surprised that we would own a book that she believed to be religious in nature. Of course, it's a lovely story and it does have a moral about how everyone's life has a purpose and we can all please God. In fact, we have a couple other stories that have religious themes ... and K happens to really like all of them.

Sometimes I wonder if we are doing any harm to our son by not having him participate in organized religion. However, I am a very spiritual person who does believe in the presence of God. I just struggle with what I've come to learn as hypocritical people gathering in a building, praising a lord and then disrespecting him as they walk out and go on about their "regular" lives. At least, by reading him these stories it does open it up for conversation. Letting him make up his own mind about what he decides to believe. Of course, my grandmother was devastated when we did not get him baptized ... but after she thought about it, she came back to me and told me that she really respected my decision to let him choose his own path. And, as a religious studies minor -- I have a variety of tomes that K can peruse when he's interested.

Of course, the basis of many religions is to force others to believe what you believe in. But for the number of religions that have that approach, there are just as many that ask their believers to open their minds to others, treat them with kindness and allow them to see the light on their own. As long as my son chooses something to believe in (that refrains from causing harm to others) I hope that it will help him find happiness throughout his life.

A Good Mug of Java

A good mug of java ...

Can perk you up in the morning.

Set things on the right course.

Get your motor running.

Has virtually no calories (until you fancy it all up with your steamed milk, flavor shots, and what not.)

A nice glass of wine ...

Can help you wind down.

Create an atmosphere for reflection.

Make you tingle if you have a tad too much.

Help you see clearer after a day of chaos.

A great cup of tea ...

Brings clarity morning, noon, and night.

Provides antioxidants and other healers.

Brings you back to the earth from which you were created.

Heals the soul, no matter the ailment.

Delaying Bedtime

It's hard to believe that my little guy will only be three in two months. He is a generous conversationalist. And I mean that he has really learned that holding a conversation with mommy at bedtime is a good way to delay having to actually go to sleep. Alas, he has also determined now that he is pretty much potty-trained that saying you have to go potty is another great delay tactic. Because of course, I'm not going to tell him "too bad, you just went potty, stay in bed." No, I have to say, "Okay, let's go potty."

I think he has mastered bladder control. Because he went potty right before bedtime and 45 minutes later, he magically had to go again -- and he went. Now, part of this can be attributed to the fact that daddy let him drink a big glass of milk right before bedtime, but the other could be that he went "just enough" at bedtime so that he could use this trick later.

On another side note -- we've mastered his "I have to go" signals and have now become champs at ensuring there are no accidents. Of course when it comes to #1, he's all over it. It's just the whole #2 delay. But all I have to watch for is a slightly perplexed look and the beginnings of a squat and I become supermom - racing to the potty. The kid has complete control -- he waits until we get to the toilet (be it across IKEA or just up the stairs) so I know he knows what he's supposed to do. I think he just gets pleasure out of seeing the small look of urgency appear on my face.

He's final tactic to delaying bedtime at the moment is asking for daddy to come upstairs and give him a hug. And of course, D cannot deny him this small pleasure. And it doesn't matter that daddy gave him a hug goodnight before we went upstairs, brushed our teeth and read our story. But again, the master manipulator has successfully extended the bedtime routine by at least 45 minutes on nights that he has chosen to deploy all the tactics.

All I can do now is practice my interviews when he becomes someone famous and I can embarrass him with his toddler manipulating genius!

From Now on Mamma's Instinct Rules

This past week I've tried to play the part of the non-nagging supportive wife. The wife who gets her husbands opinion, and even though she disagrees with it, supports his decision because she wants to show that she believes he's just as competent a parent. Well ... this decision resulted me getting a lecture from a doctor for 30 minutes this morning in regards to our son's ear infection. And now, sample sent to the lab, two new prescriptions and a husband who has apologized ... I no longer care if I become that nagging wife. At least D is fully aware of this and will comply going forward. I mean, I know he feels bad, but if he would have taken him to the regular pediatrician instead of just a quick retail clinic, I wouldn't have had to feel like a dumbass as the doctor took the gooey infectious material out of K's ear.

Of course, being the super kid he is, K just went with the flow. Let the doc do what she had to do and then proceed to cry when we got to the pharmacy, "Momma, we can't go grocery shopping, daddy's not here!" (yes, we're that routine that our two-year-old can easily tell when something's astray) Then, of course the most frustrating part ... having to waste 25 minutes for the Rx to be filled. I know this is an arbitrary number created so that I will spend time wondering around the store and putting more items in my cart. And it sort of worked, the guilt I had for putting my son through this ordeal gained him a movie and a book.

The best part of the whole fiasco was that I ended up getting to spend the day with the most fabulous boy in the world. Of course, I did have to entertain him with his knight get-up as he pretended to be High King Peter from Narnia and I had to bow as his loyal subject. (And yes, he has the entire outfit -- helmet, breastplate, shield, sword and sheath. Perhaps, the only two-year-old who even knows what a sheath is ... ) But it's the precious moments and memories that I will treasure forever. And of course, now I have just a little more leverage in the parenting decisions -- at least when it comes to anything health-related.