No. Not really.
However, I just watched a report on 60 minutes about how people in Denmark are the happiest people in the world and why. For one, the education of all citizens is paid for straight through university. Also, they have paid health care and subsidies for child and elder care. That could be a good portion of the happiness they experience.
Also, they have an average 37 hour work week, little unemployment or poverty and 6 weeks of vacation. That's right. SIX WEEKS. Does Rosetta Stone sell Danish?
The country also has a low crime rate -- stabbings are considered front page big headlines in major newspapers. They also haven't experienced war or any type of conflict in over half a century.
Apparently, another reason is because they do not have high expectations. The report speculated that our need to achieve the ever-changing "American Dream" and to "keep up with the Joneses" are what cause so much unhappiness in our country. One Dane they interviewed said his goal in life was to "have a lot of time to spend with my family" and another said her goal was "to have a job I enjoy doing".
The one thing that we as Americans would not like about living in Denmark though are the taxes. Something has got to pay for all of that free stuff, right? It seems they pay around 50% of their income toward taxes (or so said the 60 minutes report).
As the report ended, I thought about how I could incorporate at least the value of not-so-great expectations into my life since I really couldn't change any of the other things dictated by our government, our culture and our history. Maybe this would be a life changing thing.
Then I changed the channel to the Fine Living Network. Oops. Mistake. I immediately saw a renovated bathroom that, of course, I instantly wanted. This new mindset won't come so easily after all.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Monkey's first haircut
It's my 100th post and it's appropriate to celebrate it with a post about a significant event in my lil' Monkey's life. Today he got his first haircut.
We went to Cartoon Cuts following his afternoon nap so he'd be in better spirits. It would have been best to do it in between his morning and afternoon nap but we had my company picnic to attend so it didn't leave much time for us to fit in the haircut. He did very well considering it was his first time.
The lady sat him in the chair on the booster and put the strap around him so he couldn't fall off the chair. She put the cape around him and all was good. He was enjoying the cartoons on the television in front of him. Then she took the clippers up the back of his head rapidly about 3 times. I think the noise of the clippers scared him plus her holding the top of his head. It was at this point he became upset. To be expected really.
Once she turned the clippers off and started using the scissors for the top of his head, he calmed down a little. Not completely happy but not screaming and no more tears.
After it was done, she took the cape and strap off and Monkey practically leapt into my arms. He held on really tight and it was at that point I became a little verclemp and tried hard not to go into a full cry. Oddly enough, not because of what I had just put him through. I knew it was going to be a little rough. But more because my little baby boy now looked like a little man. I didn't think seeing his little curls shaved away would affect me this way.
He's a happy camper now and the "dapper gentleman" routine is much easier now at night. I have a few locks of those curls for keepsake. Just another event among many that will show me how much my little baby is growing.
We went to Cartoon Cuts following his afternoon nap so he'd be in better spirits. It would have been best to do it in between his morning and afternoon nap but we had my company picnic to attend so it didn't leave much time for us to fit in the haircut. He did very well considering it was his first time.The lady sat him in the chair on the booster and put the strap around him so he couldn't fall off the chair. She put the cape around him and all was good. He was enjoying the cartoons on the television in front of him. Then she took the clippers up the back of his head rapidly about 3 times. I think the noise of the clippers scared him plus her holding the top of his head. It was at this point he became upset. To be expected really.
Once she turned the clippers off and started using the scissors for the top of his head, he calmed down a little. Not completely happy but not screaming and no more tears.
After it was done, she took the cape and strap off and Monkey practically leapt into my arms. He held on really tight and it was at that point I became a little verclemp and tried hard not to go into a full cry. Oddly enough, not because of what I had just put him through. I knew it was going to be a little rough. But more because my little baby boy now looked like a little man. I didn't think seeing his little curls shaved away would affect me this way.
He's a happy camper now and the "dapper gentleman" routine is much easier now at night. I have a few locks of those curls for keepsake. Just another event among many that will show me how much my little baby is growing.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Winter straight into Summer? Infancy to Terrible Twos?
I've heard from a number of people living in our area that we skipped Spring this year. While that's not entirely true, I understand why they would say it. We had about two weeks of nice 60s-70s weather I think and since it's been up and up and up. This past week reaching the 100s. Not the norm for this region.
On that same line of thinking, I'm wondering if my child just skipped being a one year old and went straight into the Terrible Twos? I'm probably overanalyzing and probably have no idea that what I'm experiencing now is NOTHING compared to what the Terrible Twos will actually be like. But here's what has been going on recently with the Monkey.
GETTING DRESSED: Hates it. Does not want clothing on. Will throw his back into an arch when trying to put clothes on and scream. Once the clothes are on, he's okay, it's just the getting them on that's such a major hassle now.
FOOD: When he's decided he's done with said food, he methodically throws each piece with exaggerated movement onto the floor (this one I find cute ... so far ... it does let me know he'd like to move onto the next course).
BEING HELD: He's turned into a bit of a schizo in this area. One minute wants to be held and carried around. To the point where if there's a toy on the other side of the coffee table he wants, he'll come up on my lap, wrap his arms around me and point. Then the next minute he's dead-weighting me and doing that arching back thing. I'm hoping this is just him struggling with the walking concept. He's so close but I think he gets nervous about letting go.
DIAPER CHANGING: Still an area of contention for us although I must say as long as I keep an arsenal of kiddie songs in my head and sing them very exhuberantly, he'll sit still for a little while. Most days.
SCREAMING: He learned whining a long time ago and I thought that was horrible making my chest hurt ... now he's amped it up a notch or two. Full bore screaming if he wants more Cheerios. If he wants down from the high chair. If he wants the balloon just out of reach. Although, I will admit I don't think he's reached Terrible Two status on this one yet. He's still very selective about when to use the screaming.
Some things have become a lot easier though. Bathing for instance. He's starting to enjoy it and has learned that he can play in the tub. Eating is another. While he may throw food when he's decided he's done with it, he is doing much better in the eating department than he was a few months ago. Another is playing on his own. While he's not quite to the point where he'll play on his own for a half hour or more, he's definitely starting to explore and play with things sans-Mommy. This provides me time to get things done without having to stick him in front of Baby Einstein or in the high chair with a snack so he'll stay out of the dishwasher (although I still Baby Einstein for showers).
Anyway, I'm thinking of getting a toddler book as I've reached the point where all of my baby books are of no use anymore (except the sections on illness). Maybe that will help me understand these new behavior developments.
On that same line of thinking, I'm wondering if my child just skipped being a one year old and went straight into the Terrible Twos? I'm probably overanalyzing and probably have no idea that what I'm experiencing now is NOTHING compared to what the Terrible Twos will actually be like. But here's what has been going on recently with the Monkey.
GETTING DRESSED: Hates it. Does not want clothing on. Will throw his back into an arch when trying to put clothes on and scream. Once the clothes are on, he's okay, it's just the getting them on that's such a major hassle now.
FOOD: When he's decided he's done with said food, he methodically throws each piece with exaggerated movement onto the floor (this one I find cute ... so far ... it does let me know he'd like to move onto the next course).
BEING HELD: He's turned into a bit of a schizo in this area. One minute wants to be held and carried around. To the point where if there's a toy on the other side of the coffee table he wants, he'll come up on my lap, wrap his arms around me and point. Then the next minute he's dead-weighting me and doing that arching back thing. I'm hoping this is just him struggling with the walking concept. He's so close but I think he gets nervous about letting go.
DIAPER CHANGING: Still an area of contention for us although I must say as long as I keep an arsenal of kiddie songs in my head and sing them very exhuberantly, he'll sit still for a little while. Most days.
SCREAMING: He learned whining a long time ago and I thought that was horrible making my chest hurt ... now he's amped it up a notch or two. Full bore screaming if he wants more Cheerios. If he wants down from the high chair. If he wants the balloon just out of reach. Although, I will admit I don't think he's reached Terrible Two status on this one yet. He's still very selective about when to use the screaming.
Some things have become a lot easier though. Bathing for instance. He's starting to enjoy it and has learned that he can play in the tub. Eating is another. While he may throw food when he's decided he's done with it, he is doing much better in the eating department than he was a few months ago. Another is playing on his own. While he's not quite to the point where he'll play on his own for a half hour or more, he's definitely starting to explore and play with things sans-Mommy. This provides me time to get things done without having to stick him in front of Baby Einstein or in the high chair with a snack so he'll stay out of the dishwasher (although I still Baby Einstein for showers).
Anyway, I'm thinking of getting a toddler book as I've reached the point where all of my baby books are of no use anymore (except the sections on illness). Maybe that will help me understand these new behavior developments.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Lil' Monkey's birthing story
Looking back and recounting it to others, Lil' Monkey's birthing story could be an episode of a comedy sitcom. Let me set the stage for you.
DH was presented the opportunity to go to Microsoft's Tech Ed event in Orlando for a week. For a software consultant, this is a rare and golden opportunity to learn new stuff and meet other key players in the industry. Problem was it was 3 weeks before Monkey was due. DH's argument was that he'd never come 3 weeks early, maybe 2 weeks, but not 3 weeks. We debated about it and agreed it was something he shouldn't miss. If I went into labor, he'd catch the first flight home and hopefully be there in time. After all, we'd been told by both the childbirth class teacher and my OB that the first birth takes longer.
So he went, leaving on a Sunday. I told work I would be working from home that week because less movement meant less chance for labor (in theory). My mother and grandmother came down to keep me company. This was a good thing. Mostly. You see, my mother is very neurotic and paranoid about everything (everything except smoking -- don't ask, that's another post). However, Mom helped fix meals, helped me do things around the house, etc. Grandmom recounted her four births which made me feel grateful that I lived in these modern times.
Wednesday night, while watching the Daily Show, I started feeling some pains. They're just Braxton Hicks, that's it. Calm down.
The pains started getting more intense, more frequent and the worse part, on a schedule. Not exactly, Braxton Hicks-ish. Crap. Should I tell or get Mom?
I called my mother into my bedroom and of course, she panicked and said we should go to the hospital right away. Trying not to get caught up in her hysteria, I called my OB. When my OB called back, she said wait until they're closer then go. I told my mother this, who by the way doesn't ever believe anything doctor's tell her, she knows best (reference previous comment about smoking).
"I don't know. Maybe we should go," she said.
"No, Mom. Let's wait."
So we did. She went back to whatever it was she was doing. I don't remember at this point. The Colbert Report came on and all was going well until Stephen Colbert signed off. I called the doc again. She said to go ahead, probably because she could tell I was worried, not because I really needed to go. You can read about that hospital visit here. I was only 1 cm dilated and hadn't effaced very much.
On Thursday, I had a salary review with the CFO of our company. All during the review I kept having pains. I even prefaced our meeting with, "I've been having some contractions so if I make a weird face, it's probably not because of what you are saying." He asked if I wanted to continue and I said that I did. I also had a previously scheduled appointment with my OB. Which was a good thing. She took a look and lo and behold, I had progressed to the point where she said I would be delivering within 12 - 24 hours. "You might want to call your husband," she said since she was familiar with the situation.
I called DH and he got the first flight home. He wouldn't be home until 7:00 that night. Of course my mother, ever the optimist said, "He's probably going to miss the birth. I knew he shouldn't have gone. What was he thinking?!" Of course I was thinking this too but didn't need reinforcement.
An hour before we were to go pick up DH from the airport, I started having contractions again. Again, mom wanted to go to the hospital. But since they were the same distance apart and same intensity as the night before, I said, "No. We're going to pick up DH." I asked her to drive and she did since I was in no shape to really drive.
As we arrived at the airport, I asked mom to go to the area where you can just pull up to the curb and pick up arrivals instead of parking and going into the airport. The contractions were still happening and I wasn't comfortable with walking the distance from the parking lot to the airport. So there we waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, DH called and said that his luggage wasn't on the turnstile. Great. Of course this happens now. "Please just come out!" I begged.
"I should at least tell the lost and found," he argued.
"Fine." I stated.
By now, my mother was in full panic mode. "We should go! We should go! Just leave him here!" she kept saying.
"NO MOM! I WANT MY HUSBAND THERE! WE'RE SO CLOSE NOW!"
It was at this point an airport security guy came up to the car and knocked on the window. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to move your car. You've been here too long. You'll need to circle around." Before I had the chance to beg him to let us wait just a little longer, my mother blurts out, "My daughter's in labor!"
"Do you want me to call an ambulance or have our medical personnel come over?" he asked.
I should have been nicer but between my mother ramping up the mood of the car from orange alert to red alert and the contractions I was experiencing, I simply yelled, "No thank you! I just want my fucking husband!"
Yes, I cursed at that poor, poor man. He must have had a wife and children because instead of arguing, he just said, "Sorry ma'am. I'll give you another few minutes but then you'll need to move. Please let me know if you need me to get assistance." I wish I could find that guy and apologize.
Anyway, a minute later DH came out and I yelled, "You drive!" I knew I didn't want mom driving at this point because she was about to have a heart attack and probably in no condition to drive and neither was I. I told DH of the situation and he flew to the hospital. There was a whole argument about the amount of gas we had in the car and DH ended up blowing up at my mother but I won't go into detail about it.
At the hospital, they put me into triage and I had dilated another centimeter but nothing more. Once DH was there to comfort me and mom had gone outside to smoke her fretted nerves away, the contractions slowed down. Eventually, we were sent home, I think around 10:30. The details are fuzzy at this point.
The next morning at 4:00, the contractions were back. I waited longer this time. I didn't want to be sent home yet again. We went to the hospital around 8:00. They took me straight to the delivery room this time. No triage. So we were on our way.
The time between 3 centimeters and 4 centimeters seemed to take forever although I think it was only 2 hours. My original intentions were to wait until 6-7 centimeters to get the epidural but I just couldn't wait. As soon as I was eligible, I got it. DH said he could visibly see my whole mood change in my face when the drugs started to affect me. The doctor and nurses seem to all think I was one of those cases where the epidural actually HELPED me efface and dilate quicker because I wasn't so stressed. Within an hour of getting the epidural, I was pushing and about a half hour after that at 12:08, lil' Monkey was born.
He was so small and so cute. I was very proud of myself for having done it, although, what choice did I have at that point? The high I felt of having my little baby in my arms was definitely not from the drugs. It was just simply beautiful and extremely overwhelming to have a little person, full of life in my arms.
It's hard to believe he's a year old now. He's grown so much. And quite frankly, I've grown so much. The overwhelming feelings stayed after the birth and it definitely took me a while to become comfortable with my new role as mother. But no other experience in my life has proven to be so memorable or to have affected me so greatly.
I love you, lil' Monkey, and I look forward to every milestone, crayon drawing, bumps and scrapes, and whatever else life holds in store for you.
DH was presented the opportunity to go to Microsoft's Tech Ed event in Orlando for a week. For a software consultant, this is a rare and golden opportunity to learn new stuff and meet other key players in the industry. Problem was it was 3 weeks before Monkey was due. DH's argument was that he'd never come 3 weeks early, maybe 2 weeks, but not 3 weeks. We debated about it and agreed it was something he shouldn't miss. If I went into labor, he'd catch the first flight home and hopefully be there in time. After all, we'd been told by both the childbirth class teacher and my OB that the first birth takes longer.
So he went, leaving on a Sunday. I told work I would be working from home that week because less movement meant less chance for labor (in theory). My mother and grandmother came down to keep me company. This was a good thing. Mostly. You see, my mother is very neurotic and paranoid about everything (everything except smoking -- don't ask, that's another post). However, Mom helped fix meals, helped me do things around the house, etc. Grandmom recounted her four births which made me feel grateful that I lived in these modern times.
Wednesday night, while watching the Daily Show, I started feeling some pains. They're just Braxton Hicks, that's it. Calm down.
The pains started getting more intense, more frequent and the worse part, on a schedule. Not exactly, Braxton Hicks-ish. Crap. Should I tell or get Mom?
I called my mother into my bedroom and of course, she panicked and said we should go to the hospital right away. Trying not to get caught up in her hysteria, I called my OB. When my OB called back, she said wait until they're closer then go. I told my mother this, who by the way doesn't ever believe anything doctor's tell her, she knows best (reference previous comment about smoking).
"I don't know. Maybe we should go," she said.
"No, Mom. Let's wait."
So we did. She went back to whatever it was she was doing. I don't remember at this point. The Colbert Report came on and all was going well until Stephen Colbert signed off. I called the doc again. She said to go ahead, probably because she could tell I was worried, not because I really needed to go. You can read about that hospital visit here. I was only 1 cm dilated and hadn't effaced very much.
On Thursday, I had a salary review with the CFO of our company. All during the review I kept having pains. I even prefaced our meeting with, "I've been having some contractions so if I make a weird face, it's probably not because of what you are saying." He asked if I wanted to continue and I said that I did. I also had a previously scheduled appointment with my OB. Which was a good thing. She took a look and lo and behold, I had progressed to the point where she said I would be delivering within 12 - 24 hours. "You might want to call your husband," she said since she was familiar with the situation.
I called DH and he got the first flight home. He wouldn't be home until 7:00 that night. Of course my mother, ever the optimist said, "He's probably going to miss the birth. I knew he shouldn't have gone. What was he thinking?!" Of course I was thinking this too but didn't need reinforcement.
An hour before we were to go pick up DH from the airport, I started having contractions again. Again, mom wanted to go to the hospital. But since they were the same distance apart and same intensity as the night before, I said, "No. We're going to pick up DH." I asked her to drive and she did since I was in no shape to really drive.
As we arrived at the airport, I asked mom to go to the area where you can just pull up to the curb and pick up arrivals instead of parking and going into the airport. The contractions were still happening and I wasn't comfortable with walking the distance from the parking lot to the airport. So there we waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, DH called and said that his luggage wasn't on the turnstile. Great. Of course this happens now. "Please just come out!" I begged.
"I should at least tell the lost and found," he argued.
"Fine." I stated.
By now, my mother was in full panic mode. "We should go! We should go! Just leave him here!" she kept saying.
"NO MOM! I WANT MY HUSBAND THERE! WE'RE SO CLOSE NOW!"
It was at this point an airport security guy came up to the car and knocked on the window. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to move your car. You've been here too long. You'll need to circle around." Before I had the chance to beg him to let us wait just a little longer, my mother blurts out, "My daughter's in labor!"
"Do you want me to call an ambulance or have our medical personnel come over?" he asked.
I should have been nicer but between my mother ramping up the mood of the car from orange alert to red alert and the contractions I was experiencing, I simply yelled, "No thank you! I just want my fucking husband!"
Yes, I cursed at that poor, poor man. He must have had a wife and children because instead of arguing, he just said, "Sorry ma'am. I'll give you another few minutes but then you'll need to move. Please let me know if you need me to get assistance." I wish I could find that guy and apologize.
Anyway, a minute later DH came out and I yelled, "You drive!" I knew I didn't want mom driving at this point because she was about to have a heart attack and probably in no condition to drive and neither was I. I told DH of the situation and he flew to the hospital. There was a whole argument about the amount of gas we had in the car and DH ended up blowing up at my mother but I won't go into detail about it.
At the hospital, they put me into triage and I had dilated another centimeter but nothing more. Once DH was there to comfort me and mom had gone outside to smoke her fretted nerves away, the contractions slowed down. Eventually, we were sent home, I think around 10:30. The details are fuzzy at this point.
The next morning at 4:00, the contractions were back. I waited longer this time. I didn't want to be sent home yet again. We went to the hospital around 8:00. They took me straight to the delivery room this time. No triage. So we were on our way.
The time between 3 centimeters and 4 centimeters seemed to take forever although I think it was only 2 hours. My original intentions were to wait until 6-7 centimeters to get the epidural but I just couldn't wait. As soon as I was eligible, I got it. DH said he could visibly see my whole mood change in my face when the drugs started to affect me. The doctor and nurses seem to all think I was one of those cases where the epidural actually HELPED me efface and dilate quicker because I wasn't so stressed. Within an hour of getting the epidural, I was pushing and about a half hour after that at 12:08, lil' Monkey was born.
He was so small and so cute. I was very proud of myself for having done it, although, what choice did I have at that point? The high I felt of having my little baby in my arms was definitely not from the drugs. It was just simply beautiful and extremely overwhelming to have a little person, full of life in my arms.
It's hard to believe he's a year old now. He's grown so much. And quite frankly, I've grown so much. The overwhelming feelings stayed after the birth and it definitely took me a while to become comfortable with my new role as mother. But no other experience in my life has proven to be so memorable or to have affected me so greatly.
I love you, lil' Monkey, and I look forward to every milestone, crayon drawing, bumps and scrapes, and whatever else life holds in store for you.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Childcare Appreciation
I know many people how have had issues with their providers and I always feel for them. I can't imagine not feeling comfortable with a situation that is not easily remedied for most people due to the amount of researching/applying/etc. that is involved. We've been blessed to have found our caregiver with relative ease, especially at the time we found her.
On Little but Loud, there is a wonderful post about appreciation for teachers. This along with some other events that have happened recently made me realize that I should make a point to let our caregiver know how much we appreciate her. I looked up "daycare provider appreciation" in Google and apparently, I've already missed it. It varies by state but seems to fall somewhere in the second week of May, near Mother's Day for most states. Guess that makes sense in a way since they are mothers/fathers by proxy.
I'm marking my calendar for next year to make sure I don't miss this event again. On Friday evening, DH and I were talking about doing something special for her after I told him about a discussion she and I had earlier that day. We're thinking perhaps we'll get her something really nice for Christmas this year. DH suggested a spa certificate or something so she can take some time for herself. Good suggestion, honey!
On Little but Loud, there is a wonderful post about appreciation for teachers. This along with some other events that have happened recently made me realize that I should make a point to let our caregiver know how much we appreciate her. I looked up "daycare provider appreciation" in Google and apparently, I've already missed it. It varies by state but seems to fall somewhere in the second week of May, near Mother's Day for most states. Guess that makes sense in a way since they are mothers/fathers by proxy.
I'm marking my calendar for next year to make sure I don't miss this event again. On Friday evening, DH and I were talking about doing something special for her after I told him about a discussion she and I had earlier that day. We're thinking perhaps we'll get her something really nice for Christmas this year. DH suggested a spa certificate or something so she can take some time for herself. Good suggestion, honey!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Love for Pixar -- which do you love?
In previous posts and comments on other people's blogs, I proclaimed not only my love for Pixar but my son's love for it as well. I try not expose him too much to it as it IS viewed either on television or via my computer and as I've been told so many times, children his age are not supposed to watch television. Although, I just recently read something on BabyCenter about how 15 minute increments (controlled watching of selected material) for children under 2 shouldn't hurt them (and other mommy guilt laden topics). But that's not what this post is about, so I digress.
Since moving the "office" to our basement, I've found it lonely and boring for some reason. Maybe it's because the window in our previous "office" location overlooked our street and I could watch the comings and goings of the world. Now I just have a sliding glass door that looks onto our fenced in yard. So to give myself some "company" and if I need some background noise to make working easier, I've been putting on movies. This is better than daytime television because A) most daytime television is boring or just plain stupid, B) I've already watched all of the movies we own so I can block it out should I need to put more concentration into something. I know some people find this concept baffling -- when I worked in an ACTUAL office, I listened to my iPod often. That was to BLOCK out certain individuals in the office though. So I suppose I got used to background noise and when there is none, I can't work. (BTW, Monsters, Inc. is on in the background now because DH is gaming and I'm, well, I'm writing this!)
Okay, back on topic!
I've been watching a LOT of Pixar movies lately. I simply LOVE Finding Nemo and could watch it over and over again. It has so much to offer besides a cute story and amazing graphics. Many palatable lessons for young and old alike exist in its storyline. Most of Pixar's movies have this quality. Maybe all? I'll need to rewatch Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 to verify this as I haven't rewatched them in a while.
For instance, in Finding Nemo, there are two obvious lessons. One, parents should not overprotect their kids because it could just drive them into danger. Two, kids should listen to their parents and not stray to far from them because the world IS a dangerous place. In The Incredibles, there are a few good lessons but the one that always strikes me is the one about the "bad guys" and how they don't show restraint like the cartoon bad guys. In Monsters, Inc. there are some sutble statements about our society (e.g. use of energy, assumed views of those we don't know much about). But there are so many others. I'm not going to state them all here -- today anyway.
I do want to catalogue these lessons somewhere so when Monkey is old enough to comprehend we can talk about them after viewing the movie.
Enough of my extolling the virtues of Pixar movies. Which one is your favorite and why?
P.S. I've had some posts in queue. Sorry for the onslaught.
Since moving the "office" to our basement, I've found it lonely and boring for some reason. Maybe it's because the window in our previous "office" location overlooked our street and I could watch the comings and goings of the world. Now I just have a sliding glass door that looks onto our fenced in yard. So to give myself some "company" and if I need some background noise to make working easier, I've been putting on movies. This is better than daytime television because A) most daytime television is boring or just plain stupid, B) I've already watched all of the movies we own so I can block it out should I need to put more concentration into something. I know some people find this concept baffling -- when I worked in an ACTUAL office, I listened to my iPod often. That was to BLOCK out certain individuals in the office though. So I suppose I got used to background noise and when there is none, I can't work. (BTW, Monsters, Inc. is on in the background now because DH is gaming and I'm, well, I'm writing this!)
Okay, back on topic!
I've been watching a LOT of Pixar movies lately. I simply LOVE Finding Nemo and could watch it over and over again. It has so much to offer besides a cute story and amazing graphics. Many palatable lessons for young and old alike exist in its storyline. Most of Pixar's movies have this quality. Maybe all? I'll need to rewatch Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 to verify this as I haven't rewatched them in a while.
For instance, in Finding Nemo, there are two obvious lessons. One, parents should not overprotect their kids because it could just drive them into danger. Two, kids should listen to their parents and not stray to far from them because the world IS a dangerous place. In The Incredibles, there are a few good lessons but the one that always strikes me is the one about the "bad guys" and how they don't show restraint like the cartoon bad guys. In Monsters, Inc. there are some sutble statements about our society (e.g. use of energy, assumed views of those we don't know much about). But there are so many others. I'm not going to state them all here -- today anyway.
I do want to catalogue these lessons somewhere so when Monkey is old enough to comprehend we can talk about them after viewing the movie.
Enough of my extolling the virtues of Pixar movies. Which one is your favorite and why?
P.S. I've had some posts in queue. Sorry for the onslaught.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Certain times of year
There are certain times of year when you think of things. Memories. Fond ones. Sometimes not so fond ones.
Being Memorial Day weekend, I think of DH's father and how he would go the Rolling Thunder ride in D.C. each year. That is until he passed away in 2004. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years now.
While traveling to the National Zoo for the D.C. Mommy blogger meet-up, I saw a group of motorcylists headed to the Rolling Thunder event. I started to feel very sad and forced myself not to become overwhelmed by the feeling. Each year, I know this weekend brings up painful memories for my DH and my in-laws. I try to "check in" on him by asking how he's doing. I "pseudo" check-in on my MIL by asking DH if he's spoken to her and how she is doing. I never know whether I should bring the subject up though. If he doesn't, then I suppose it's not worth mentioning and unnecessarily bring up painful memories.
I guess why I'm writing this is to ask, how do you handle similar situations? Where you have a loved one who has suffered a loss and you want to make sure they're okay without making it worse?
Being Memorial Day weekend, I think of DH's father and how he would go the Rolling Thunder ride in D.C. each year. That is until he passed away in 2004. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years now.
While traveling to the National Zoo for the D.C. Mommy blogger meet-up, I saw a group of motorcylists headed to the Rolling Thunder event. I started to feel very sad and forced myself not to become overwhelmed by the feeling. Each year, I know this weekend brings up painful memories for my DH and my in-laws. I try to "check in" on him by asking how he's doing. I "pseudo" check-in on my MIL by asking DH if he's spoken to her and how she is doing. I never know whether I should bring the subject up though. If he doesn't, then I suppose it's not worth mentioning and unnecessarily bring up painful memories.
I guess why I'm writing this is to ask, how do you handle similar situations? Where you have a loved one who has suffered a loss and you want to make sure they're okay without making it worse?
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