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Zen and the Art of the Toddler
2005-08-10 - 4:53 p.m.

I realize all of my recent entries have been a little on the dry side. I just really haven�t had much to talk about except the same old same old. This is part of the reason why I�ve never been really good at the journal thing, in paper or online. I just really don�t have much going on most of the time. I find this is also why I tnd not to be much of a telephone kind of person. After �hey, how�s it goin�?� I got nuthin� because I probably already told you anything pertinent the last time we talked.

I sort of think a little of this is just the nature of growing up. The once you get out of school and settle into a job things just sort of mellow into a standard state of being and they don�t shift around as much, hence, less new stuff to talk about.

Anyway, I do have a bit of a conundrum about this weekend. I have two bands I need to see that are playing at the same time Saturday night. One is full of friends and the other is full of friends and relatives. I did go see the first band this last weekend, so I think the relatives win this time.

I also got to see the Dynamic Duo this last weekend along with their adorable one year old kiddo. I was finally able to give kiddo her birthday present, and it was a hit! I got her weebles, which look nothing like the major-choking-hazzard weebles I had as a kid, but are still pretty neat. It came with a little school house with a swing, a trike, and a see-saw. The see-saw became a catapult pretty quickly with a little help from dad, but the school house was the most fun, apparently. The swing is cool, but the school door opens and closes and the weebles can go in and out. This is kiddo�s favorite game right now, in and out. It was very funny.

I felt a little bad for the duo, though. They were staying with mutual friends who had just bought a house and brand new furniture to go in it. V. was a little nervous to begin with, but the friends really wanted them to stay, so they did. Apparently the friends didn�t realize a one year olds favorite thing to do is bang hard things (read: brand new furniture) with other hard things (read: brand new weebles) and spit half chewed food all over. Now, for the record, kiddo is one of the best behaved one-year-olds I have ever encountered, but she is still one, you know? V. spent the whole time following behind kiddo telling her to stop what she was doing. Later V. told me she was a little afraid this would happen, and from here on out plans on staying in a hotel when they visit, but she felt bad turning the friends down when they offered because they seemed so excited about having them stay. They also didn�t really realize how a kid�s clock works. One of the reasons I love the Duo is they are parents who are aware that not everyone finds their child as adorable as they do, especially strangers who have to listen to temper tantrums in the middle of restaurants, etc. For this reason, they try to stay at home if kiddo is fussy or if it�s past her bed time, so she can have her temper tantrums at home. Well, very good intentioned friends wanted to get dinner Sat. after the cutoff point and no one was listening to the subtle hints about ordering in, so the Duo took kiddo out to pizza. She actually did very well, and only got a little fussy, but I know it was a little hard for the two of them. If y�all are reading, hi! It was good to see you and you really did great. I love the well intentioned friends, too, but I know it was a bit sticky (sometimes literally) at times.

Anyway, moral of the story is, if you invite friends with young children to stay with you, be aware that you will end up with dents in your furniture and chewed hot dog in your carpet. That�s just how it is. Toddlers are put on this earth to teach us about the Zen philosophy that all things are transitory and to not hold on to physical things� because the toddler will put chewed up chicken nugget on them and then bang it with a weeble. Or something like that.

So much to do. I�m stalling again. Paperwork can be very overwhelming when three different people want three different things RIGHT NOW! I just got it all sorted out, but I think at least one of them is going to come back and ask me to do it again, or change it, or whatever. It makes me afraid to check my voicemail.

Book # 28 is finished. The Inheritance by� I have no idea. I don�t have the book anymore and I can�t find it on Amazon. If I think of it I�ll post it later. A cute, short read about a girl in India with a rather unconventional family. I liked it.


when we last left our heros� - in our next exciting installment�