Rainy, cold-stricken visit
My friends Amy and David were here last week with their incredibly smart, charming, funny daughter Adele. It was delightful to see them and I feel like I learned a lot about kids and parenting in a short span of time; if we can be a tenth as good in the parenting department as Amy and David, I think we’ll be pretty darn good. It was wonderful for me to spend time with them, but I felt bad for them because it rained on every single day of their visit except--I think--for the day they arrived and the day they left. These were some tough circumstances for a vacation with a one-and-a-half-year-old. Because it was raining, they had to stay inside with Adele, meaning she couldn’t run around and expend energy and often needed to be in the stroller, which was frustrating for her. She's got a lot of energy and curiosity, and I don't blame her for not wanting to be cooped up. Plus, everyone got sick (including me). It’s got to be challenging enough to be away from home with a young child, but when the circumstances get exacerbated in this way, how tough… I felt bad for them.
But selfishly, I am so glad I saw them. Amy helped me immeasurably with some of my preparations. We visited Babies R Us (my first time there) and I was able to scope out some of the things I might need, with Amy’s guidance. All I could think was how I would have keeled over and died from overwhelmed senses if Amy hadn’t been there to help me make sense of the aisles and aisles and aisles of things. I cannot believe how much baby merchandise there is, and all the different options! The stroller/carseat dilemma alone would have sent my peabrain somersaulting through outer space without Amy’s help.
It was also just fun to hang out with them and talk and interact with Adele. I can’t tell you how sweet and funny she is (and the possessor of a huge vocabulary for a toddler). Oh, and she decided *I* was funny, which is the ultimate compliment. Even when I wasn’t doing anything in particular to try to amuse her, she would look at me and start laughing! And point at me and say, “Funny.” Could a child pay me a better compliment? I really think it was insightfulness on her part, that she saw right through to my innermost core, where being found funny is extremely important to me. She also pronounced my name “Tawa,” which could not be cuter. Sometimes I was “Mawk.” I think she saw me and Mark as one joint entity of “Tawa Mawk” or “Mawk Tawa.” But *I* was funnier, people.
Well, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to convince Amy and David to come back after the crappy weather and illness that went with this visit, so it’s time to start planning a trip to Fullerton to see them!
But selfishly, I am so glad I saw them. Amy helped me immeasurably with some of my preparations. We visited Babies R Us (my first time there) and I was able to scope out some of the things I might need, with Amy’s guidance. All I could think was how I would have keeled over and died from overwhelmed senses if Amy hadn’t been there to help me make sense of the aisles and aisles and aisles of things. I cannot believe how much baby merchandise there is, and all the different options! The stroller/carseat dilemma alone would have sent my peabrain somersaulting through outer space without Amy’s help.
It was also just fun to hang out with them and talk and interact with Adele. I can’t tell you how sweet and funny she is (and the possessor of a huge vocabulary for a toddler). Oh, and she decided *I* was funny, which is the ultimate compliment. Even when I wasn’t doing anything in particular to try to amuse her, she would look at me and start laughing! And point at me and say, “Funny.” Could a child pay me a better compliment? I really think it was insightfulness on her part, that she saw right through to my innermost core, where being found funny is extremely important to me. She also pronounced my name “Tawa,” which could not be cuter. Sometimes I was “Mawk.” I think she saw me and Mark as one joint entity of “Tawa Mawk” or “Mawk Tawa.” But *I* was funnier, people.
Well, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to convince Amy and David to come back after the crappy weather and illness that went with this visit, so it’s time to start planning a trip to Fullerton to see them!
posted by Sarah Goss at 10:28 AM
3 Comments:
I never thought I'd be one to mind the rain, having lived five years in Oregon and all. But this is getting a little depressing.
Adele IS an amazing child. Good genes will tell. And on the parenting-advice front(Professor Novak's excepted, of course), a safe rule is probably something like 87% of what you hear will be pure hogwash. I noticed that when friends of mine here got pregnant, OTHER friends of theirs seemed to think it was their moral duty to pass along every crackpot parenting theory that surfaces. Just what the expecting mother needs...
True, but I have to point out that in this case, I asked Amy for help... begged is probably more like it. She has been truly invaluable to me since this whole crazy pregnancy thing started!
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