Sucking success
1. My baby is sick! I realize that this is an event that happens eventually in the life of every mother, but actually, I was a little bit hoping it would never happen. It could definitely be worse; so far it just seems like a little cold with no fever. But it is utterly distressing to hear her trying to breathe through all the congestion, and coughing, and looking completely bewildered by her plight. The good news is that, thanks to the advice we received on this blog, Mark and I have had SOME success sucking mucous out with the heinous bulb. We're still hit and miss with it, but we've certainly sucked more out than before. Thank you, suck-advice-givers.
2. Lately I've been noticing I have this kind of annoying habit, which is that when I happen to say something in conversation that another person emphatically agrees with, I then repeat the thing I said, apparently in the hopes of earning another Pavlovian reinforcement. I tend to repeat the original insight with some variation in wording, and at greater length, as though the varied wording might make the other person think I was adding some new dimension or point to the original insight, but actually, it is really just the same insight in slightly different words. The other person isn't fooled, but offers agreement again, this time in a slightly more diminished form, less emphatic than the original agreement, so the experience ends up being something of a letdown. I wonder why I do this and if I will ever stop. The other odd thing is, I dimly know that I have been on the verge of understanding this about myself for quite some time now, but I almost didn't want to know, so I prolonged the full realization as long as possible.
3. My darling new computer is finally home from the computer hospital! I can't wait to boot her up.
4. I almost forgot--I, too, am sick with a cold. So be sure to pity me at least a little when you are doling out your day's worth of pitying thoughts. It is cold and rainy here and pretty much absolutely miserable, yet strangely Christmas-ily festive, too.
2. Lately I've been noticing I have this kind of annoying habit, which is that when I happen to say something in conversation that another person emphatically agrees with, I then repeat the thing I said, apparently in the hopes of earning another Pavlovian reinforcement. I tend to repeat the original insight with some variation in wording, and at greater length, as though the varied wording might make the other person think I was adding some new dimension or point to the original insight, but actually, it is really just the same insight in slightly different words. The other person isn't fooled, but offers agreement again, this time in a slightly more diminished form, less emphatic than the original agreement, so the experience ends up being something of a letdown. I wonder why I do this and if I will ever stop. The other odd thing is, I dimly know that I have been on the verge of understanding this about myself for quite some time now, but I almost didn't want to know, so I prolonged the full realization as long as possible.
3. My darling new computer is finally home from the computer hospital! I can't wait to boot her up.
4. I almost forgot--I, too, am sick with a cold. So be sure to pity me at least a little when you are doling out your day's worth of pitying thoughts. It is cold and rainy here and pretty much absolutely miserable, yet strangely Christmas-ily festive, too.
posted by Sarah Goss at 5:08 PM
8 Comments:
Oh, sympathies!
I don't know if anyone previously posted this in regards to congestion problems - if you have a warm air humidifier that helps. Or if not, try steaming up your bathroom and take Daisy in there for a few minutes.
Here is a sprinkling of pity for Sarah (and Daisy too!). Get well soon, and continued good luck with the mucous sucking device (I was fascinated by this peculiar device one boring day at home when I was about 7). Hope Mark manages to stay unscathed.
Yes, the "Christmas" mist is indeed festive! Not quite fog, but often we can't see beyond the next street down here in Oakland, so it feels like banks of light snow around the house...
Hope to see you soon, once you have recovered and survived the holidays!
Thanks for the sympathies! I really should not be whining, having just heard some really terrible news (four people killed in the snowstorm in the Seattle area...my God). And thank you for the humidifer advice, Albert-- following up on it, we just went out and got a vaporizer for the bedroom. Last night was still a nightmare, though. Poor little Daze can't breathe very well. It's scary. Mark thinks I'm crazy.
Do you have one of those baby props--sleep incliner--things you can put her on?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267019&cp=&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2254197&origkw=sleep&kw=sleep&parentPage=search
That is a great idea--thank you, Marguerite. I've been noticing that the blankets we've shoved under the mattress slide around too much.
My mom has sort of the same verbal twitch you're talking about, but I learned lately that it's a holdover from one brand of traditional Irish storytelling. It's fun for me to know that, since she doesn't. How could I tell her? "Mom, you know that annoying thing you do where you repeat the punchline like forty times? Well..."
So. Think of it that way. You're carrying on a fine tradition.
A kindred spirit! Thank you, Meghan's mom. Though somehow it all seems more forgivable when you're trying to be funny.
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