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January 23, 2005
Shoveling for the twentieth time
I have no room to complain. I, for one, am not the shoveler. We are also only dealing with maybe ten inches of snow. But, may I complain that we did not get more? I have two friends in the Boston area who, I choose to believe, are enjoying a little piece of heaven this weekend. They are stuck at home, unable (and/or unwilling) to leave the warm confines. They CAN'T run errands, they CAN'T be on the go. I love it when life forces you to stop, take a breather, ration your food, things of that nature.
Gus has been screaming this weekend. I realize this is not abnormal, but he's doing this crazy high-pitched, quick screams out of frustration, and it in turn makes me frustrated. I suppose I would be a little on edge if I had three teeth coming in at once, I desperately needed a nap ('I'm just a little boy!'), and I couldn't explain to my mother that the reason I wanted her bowl of oatmeal over my dopey little bowl of oatmeal was just BECAUSE. Because it's bigger, because, even though it's the same oatmeal, it's still different. Because it's yours and I want it and I will have it, so plug your ears, Mama, because I'm going to dole out the biggest scream.
I didn't give him my bowl of oatmeal. It soon became a matter of principle. Mama has certain things and Gus has certain things, and if I give in to the damn bowl of oatmeal, I'm doomed to give in to everything...he'll be fourteen and throwing tantrums and getting everything he wants and I'll be complaining about it, and I'll curse that damn oatmeal for the rest of my life.
But seriously. I don't have that sense of "I'm the boss, you'll do as I say because I rule over you." I do, however, feel like we are at a pivotal time when Gus is running his little science experiments on life, trying to figure out how things work, writing down all the statistics and results that he will gather over time.
He will come to some big conclusions from these experiments:
Experiment: When I smile, Mama and Papa smile.
Result: That makes me feel good. I will do this again and again because I like feeling good.
Experiment: When I scream, Mama and Papa instantly look at me.
Result: Attention! But wait... Mama has started saying 'no no no' when I do this. so there's a new result: I scream, she says 'no no no', and I shake my head, and then I repeat.
We're working on it.
Posted by janna at January 23, 2005 11:04 AM