…change

He likes them once they’re here, so why is it that when the initial announcement is made, all he can do is sit akimbo on the back patio staring, mouth agape and repeating a disbelieving dirge, “No! No? No!”

It may be that he is better than I am at visualizing the big picture—the commitment, the dedication and the expense of introducing another human being to the food chain, and like most of my project ideas that I promise will bring added improvement to our lives, i.e., remodeling, landscaping, and vacations, he seems to understand better than I, that even a tiny, cute, little bitty change, can result in a great big chunk of change.

Journal,
As the little one gets stitches again, the next eldest brings home demerits for reading above his level during play time at school again and every indication is that he will require a more specialized educational chunk of change.

The eldest is looking for monetary handouts for her myriad of activities, and I break it to him gently that it’s time for more change.
Tee hee, T.

The husband is the same person that plans in meticulous detail each day of a vacation and evaluates consumer recommendations for appliances before purchasing. He is one of those people that advertisers hate because he listens, watches and takes the time to debunk the hype of car commercials. He’s the one individual in the whole entire nation who really compares insurance … quarterly.

I am the opposite. The only time I spent longer than forty minutes evaluating something, I married it. Advertisers love me because the nostalgia of the music draws me in and I’m easily convinced that heavy metal is directly related to fiber. I am ever so much more likely to buy anything if they promise it will make me feel better in the morning.

Journal,
People have children for a myriad of reasons, sometimes even for a specific humanitarian purpose—like bone marrow donors.
I’m doing that. I’m giving birth to children for a purpose… to have them act in my stead in wrestling matches, camping trips, ski trips …
And I’m going to keep on having them until it works. Until they have worn him out. T.

In spite of the husband’s cautious attitude on change, I consider the challenges that come with children as an opportunity to raise my risk ratio—to increase my tolerance levels and my sanity threshold.

I'll ride this wave of childrearing, never stopping long enough to worry about the weather conditions or potential wipe outs. As any surfer knows, the bigger the wave, the more exciting the ride, and for the job of parenting, a mild degree of universal craziness is just an added bonus.

Reality Bite: Yeah, ‘cause you know, if it’s not totally fun, and like … totally exciting, then I need to quit and like if I’m going to quit, I might as well have fun. It makes perfect sense and all the sudden, I’m just like … having total fun. (This is a direct quote from a surfer magazine, dude.)