Sunday, October 01, 2006



SUNDAY'S SALIENCE

This is probably going to be a very random blog, due in part to my random nature on the whole, and to my attitude today, and to two beers consumed with a dinner my son cooked. YES, my son...may he become the next Emeril or Alton or Tyler so I can eat for free on my CRAPPY R.C. salary...so first, to him...

Learning the Point Spread

It was a big day in our household as our son learned about the point spread. You see, we have a Jets fan on our hands. We believe his loyalty lies with the Jets for the rather shallow reasons of liking aircraft and wanting a team from N.Y. OTHER than Daddy's Giants and, well, The Bills (sorry Dan and Matt!) , but then again, loyalties have been formed for lesser reasons, I am sure. SO, today, KNOWING that the Jets were going to lose, my husband taught our child the wonders of the point spread, ESSENTIALLY teaching him about gambling...we're nothing if not a wholesome bunch. THEN, the dinner he cooked was Turkey Sloppy Joe's and cheese fries, which our daughter professed, over and over, to LOVE. Our children love gambling and pub food - we are screwed!

Learning Individuality

And so we segue (LOVE that word, and LOVE that people very often can say it but not spell it:) nicely to my daughter, who learned this week that she comes from "out there" stock. Thursday evening, the FIRST night of the week that we really had time to breathe, she curled up in the rocker with me, wanting some "Mommy Time." We just rocked and cuddled and talked for a bit, then she sat up on my lap and very seriously said "Mommy, I need to tell you something." She proceeded to explain, in wavering voice, about a graph that her Kindergarten class had made. She was one of the first to make a choice on the topic "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up," and her choice, which went on the class graph, was to be an Artist. Now, as the lesson progressed, her best friend in the class said she wanted to be a Horseback Rider, and concurrently all the little girls saddled up. G was heartbroken, and literally SOBBED in my lap, while we had the inevitable "Get used to it, Mom's a whack job and so are you," discussion, but truth be told, I was thrilled. Maybe we FINALLY will get an artist in the family with enough childhood trauma to really make a go of it, eh Scott?!

Learning About Obscurity

So, speaking of/to my brother, the ball and chain and I were watching CBS Sunday Morning while the kids were at church school (need to do SOMETHING with them to counteract the debauchery they learn at home) and they mentioned a famous musicologist - even showed his picture! We both burst out laughing when we saw this old, furry faced man that could have been panhandling at any given metropolitan location, if not busy being a "famous musicologist." Sorry, bud, I guess NOW I know what your lot in life is!

Learning About My Own NORMALCY, thanks AGAIN Dad

And lest I wield my vile tongue TOO much, I got my own dressing down over the last few weeks. I always think I am so funny, so original and quick witted. WELL, my husband reads two weekly web columns quite religiously; Tuesday Morning Quarterback and Sports Guy, both off Page Two on ESPN. (GOD, I am impressing myself with my sports knowledge!). SO, recently, they have had stuff on their blogs, because they are essentially just blogs, that I swear are thoughts they sucked off my personal brainwaves. First off, one of them trashed the show "Rock Star Supernova" (guilty pleasure, I know, but hey, if I hadn't been an elementary teacher...) in the EXACT same way I had been verbally trashing it the night before. Then TMQ (see, SO savvy I can use the INITIALS!) ranted eloquently about homework, JUST as Sue and I had. And finally, this week, Sports Gal, (whose stats I might add are DAMN GOOD! Watch out Sports Guy - see I am SO good I even look at stats - pat my back, PLEASE, I NEED to feel important!) had her day with "Clip Shows," one of the EXACT TOPICS I had thought about ranting about this weekend myself. You know, those shows where you settle in for a new episode of your favorite serial and find yourself watching a review of the season thus far? CHEAP T.V. at its FINEST! Not to mention, insullting to the "real fan" who has watched all along, and HAS A BRAIN that can RETAIN INFORMATION enough to follow a story line withough visual Cliff's! Well, when I read her post, and realized she had stolen my fire, I heard the little voice again"You are COMPLETELY normal!" "Super Subconscious Dad" was visiting again! Now, granted, he originally said such so as to keep me from becoming a FREAK in Highschool, but, much to my demise, it is becoming quite true in fact. Overall,though, the thing that PISSES ME OFF (can't imagine that, can you?) - if I didn't have to work at my damn "dayjob," maybe I could get my thoughts out there FASTER!!!!!!!!!! What the hell am I thinking, I come from a long line of procrastinators and I am SURE an at home pedicure would take precedence.

All this AS my son states "Awww, back to school tomorrow" in the background, and such is...

Learning About LIFE,
Cheryl

2 comments:

Scersk said...

Who says I don't already display that level of indigence? You haven't seen my hair and beard lately...

On the Daddian Superego--my new coinage because it's way more conscious than subconscious for me--I think that particular expression, that we're both much more normal than we'd like to think, doesn't really come from a need to make us not turn into freaks. Rather, I think he said it to make us not feel like the freak he obviously felt he was during his teenage years. Clearly, anyone who didn't enjoy going to church every Wednesday night, Saturday (?), and Sunday morning and evening was a freak; anyone who felt closer to gears and engines than JC was going straight to the nether regions; and, finally, anyone who would choose to be something other than a doctor, lawyer, or minister was on the wrong path. That he was "normal" was probably almost a mantra for him until he went to college.

Of course, one could question applying that to two kids that had already made a clear leap beyond the whole Jesus thing or needing to follow intellectual paths out of any obligation to anybody, but it's hard to change old habits. Though they both had internal balances on these things, I think Mom and Dad also acted as larger balances for each other, since, truth be told, Mom really did tell us we were unusual and special a little often, don't you think? What was she counteracting? Feeling all too normal, of course, in her teenage years, being unable to compare herself to those outside, what has always seemed to me, to have been a very "highly functioning" peer group.

So, yeah, parenting: perpetuating our own neuroses since 4004 BC.

Cheryl and Sue said...

Isn't there some saying anyway about THE FAMILY WHO PARTIES TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER...or GAMBLES TOGETHER or PUBS TOGETHER...? Not sure of that.

All sounds normal to me anyway, as we have our own issues here in the Hall household. One child with OCD who is doing everything in FOURS, and another who thinks kindergarten is all about the clothes. A mother who teachers Catholic Religious Ed by Sunday morning and then...well, we won't go public with the rest.

At least no one will be able to say our kids are just BOOK SMART. Well, I don't think we'd have to worry about that here. The mother who doesn't support homework and pisses all the teachers off with emails. So yeah...they better get used to PUBS n wine festivals and gambling on the side...

So on that note...I go back to ponder my own blog...on how a normal day at work can turn into needing to say away from the computer lab... and be more available so my student teacher doesn't allow crying hormonal 5th graders to go to tattle to Mr. L. Yep...that was my day.

~Sue