So.... not much has been going lately - not in the way of blog fodder, anyway. Just living my usual glamorous existence as the Personal Nose Picker to the Stars. Actually, what I am closer to being is a chambermaid because let me tell you - Arun is living the life of Royalty. Let us count the ways, shall we? HRH gets his ass gently wiped throughout the day, warm baths with a fragrant hint of "California Baby" are drawn especially for him, his hair is carefully coiffed, color coordinated clothes are laid out for him each morning, and food is liberally transferred to his gaping maw via silver spoon. Hell's Bells - I even apply the toothpaste on his toothbrush.
Anyway, things are going pretty well right now. Arun is still Pre-Tantrums and isn't collapsing into weepy balls of fury yet, so I have no complaints. You did see that I added the important adverb "yet", didn't you? I will say it fascinating to watch him developmentally getting closer to those tantrums. I can see clearly where his little brain is becoming overloaded with conflicting desires and emotions. Thus far, I've been able to circumvent any tantrums by using good old-fashioned Compelling Distractions (Look! Kitty!) or Cheerily Dispensed 5 Minute Warnings (Okay, we need to go back inside soon! Woo hoo!). Of course, I am not really banking on those handy dandy tools working forever.
Also, these days it's sorta like living with a wee-sized foreigner - his big thing is to point to various objects around the house so that I can inform him of the proper term. He's still all Cro-Magnon about it with the pointing and grunting, but at least he's now got Mental Vocabulary to go with that hulking brow. Actually, the kid loves being outside so much, he'd probably be perfectly content with us just building him his own little cave in the backyard and throwing his crib in there. Seriously, he loves being outside SO MUCH that often, he asks for it first thing in the morning and other times, carries his shoes and socks to us. My money is on "not getting to go outside" being the first catalyst for tantrum. Mark my words.
So, I finally finished Next by Michael Crichton. It was very unsatisfying, frankly. I am really interested in the topical matter of genetic engineering and such, but Crichton really hacked this story up too much. The central focus didn't become clear until over halfway through and the manner in which he tied all the stories together rang very false and contrived. Next week, I am determined to finish up A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I've had a hard time with it because it is such a very sad story. As I've been fighting pregnancy hormones and various minor illnesses anyway, it's difficult to get excited about reading a sad story where no one is happy. After I'm done with A Fine Balance, I am going to get going on my book list I've compiled. It's a list that I want to have completed before NewKid makes HisHer arrival since I know it will be difficult to get in a lot of reading in the first few months. I'm selecting 9 books from my To Be Read stack, but will leave space open for some book club selections and random purchases as well. I'll publish the final list next week.
Finally, I really appreciated all of your comments about the subject of bone marrow donors. I appreciated even the contradictory comments because for the most part, I don't mind comments that disagree with me. In fact, I think the blogosphere is completely becoming stifled and in some cases, boring, because of this weird "group think" that commenters feel must be followed. I find it disheartening that so many dissenters end up getting flamed by commenters rushing to defend their beloved blogger. I am a very opinionated person - I'm well aware of it and if I wasn't, I have friends and family more than willing to let me know. However, I still welcome hearing viewpoints that differ than mine. That's the only way one can learn new ideas and fresh approaches, right?
10 comments:
My issue is that I don't like to hurt people's feelings deliberately. I really mulled over whether or not I was going to write my education post series because I think my viewpoints are influenced by various cultural and socioeconomic considerations and whether or not explaining them was going to come off as a judgment on other people's lives.
I think it is difficult to find that balance because ultimately the way in which we choose to live our lives is an intrinsic judgment on the fact that we think some things are just not right, by our own personal standards. It's the same way Annoying Classmate lobbed the whole "I just can't imagine" statement at me-it's just one big "no way in hell would I" wrapped up in vague terms, similar to the phrase "it's just not me."
I think blogs are one of those arenas where you can find out a lot about your acquaintance's lifestyles and viewpoints in a way people won't actively open up to one another's faces-and reading it can feel like a judgment on you and how you choose to live your life. It's difficult to indicate to people that you are not trying to make it about them.
I have thought about it a lot and come to the conclusion that since I, personally, am convinced of the superiority of my lifestyle and opinions, that other people should be of theirs and not go off the deep end about what I think...and thus, maybe I will be a little bit more controversial than tiptoeing around.
I'm sure I've got a solid 30% base of hatahs anyway.
Random comment--it was good to see you and NewKid over the weekend. it's really been too long. Now that my "sport" season is finished, perhaps we can hang out a bit. I would love to see Arun, too!--LuAnn
You will be amazed at how long good old distraction will work. Look at that cute guy...
-says the mother of a 16 year old.
Monkey,
You have some good points - I generally don't post disagreeable comments myself because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. And I'll admit some comments in the past here have hurt my own feelings. However, I still like to think that I am open to contradiction. Gulp. Maybe.
I think Monkey's said it perfectly with it being difficult in trying to indicate to other's that the differing opinion isn't about them.
On that particular issue, it was especially hard for me to figure out how to word my comment so that it wouldn't sound like I actually disagreed with your decision but more so that your post made me consider what I would decide if I was in your position. Ughh. See? It still doesn't sound right;>
This post just reminded me that I ended up crying during some parts of A Fine Balance! I does have some heartbreaking plot points.
Anyway, if you're looking for blog fodder you could always post a review of it when you finish it.
I'm surprised you have all this free time to read. And just wait, your kids are so close in age, after the second one is here, you will experience more than your fair share of meltdowns for things you didn't even know would set him off. My kids are 8 years apart, so I didn't have to deal with that much, but my 13 month old already has figured out that the word "No" is her enemy and turns on the water works.
The age old adage, "If she had been born first, she'd be an only child." are entirely true in our case. LOL.
IS entirely true... Arrgghh! IMing a friend and commenting at the same time don't mix.
I find myself sometimes unable to read the blogs where someone has offered a polite, informed dissenting opinion and other commenters jump all over them and resort to calling names. It drives me absolutely nuts that you cannot agree to disagree with someone in most areas of the blogoshpere.
Your last post was great - I love thought provoking posts and the discussion that follows. I love them because I like to try to challenge myself to consider other things than my immediate surroundings etc. and by reading others opionions, whether I agree or not, make me more open minded or at least more open to other considerations.
I agree with you about the commenters flaming dissenters-- I've especially seen it happen on a lot on the bigger blogs where the blogger has a bit of a cult following. That's sad, because dissent can be more thought provoking than a chorus of "yes you're so wise, blogger" or whatever.
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