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May. 21st, 2003 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oakenguyOtrell, my sorta-nephew, just turned six. His moms asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and he wanted a day without rules, without anyone telling him what to do.
So, how did our budding anarchist spend the day? Well, he practiced his cello in the evening instead of the morning, and only played the pieces he liked; he stayed in his pajamas until it was time to go to the comic book store; he ate macaroni and cheese three times and had a snack of peanut butter toast, and did NOT eat an apple or any broccoli; and he played on the computer even though it's "computer off week".
He loved it. He's said that he wants this for his birthday every year, only he wants 12 hours for himself and 12 hours for his little sister Aedin. When it was pointed out that Aedin gets a birthday too and could just get the hours for her birthday, he said he'd rather do it his way so he'd get "that generous feeling".
I'd been talking with Kelley (Mom 1) a few days before his birthday, and she was a little concerned about his wish, about whether that meant he felt like he was under too much pressure, or something like that. I did not, to my credit, say "Yes, it is, and it's because you don't let him watch television", for that would've been a lie. (Even though, for a media junkie like me, it's like hearing they have a policy about not giving him too much air. He collects action figures of, and visits websites for, cartoons he's never seen! When he showed me something called a Fighting Food-on and I recognized it and told him I'd caught part of the episode where the giant beefsteak fought the fried rice, he looked at me the way a theoretical astrobiologist would look at a living Venusian.)
Instead I told Kelley that it was a normal desire, something I wish *I'd* thought of when I was his age, and that she needed to look at the plans he was making for the day. Was he turning the broomstick into a spear and trying to recreate 'Lord of the Flies' with the housecats? Was he thinking of setting up barricades at the elevator and charging a toll for anyone wanting to get off? Was fire involved in any way? If none of those questions came back as a 'yes', then she should be patting herself on the back for some good parenting skills. Kelley smiled and said it all came from Dana, and this time I *did* fib and say that I saw traces of both of them in Otrell. (Okay, not a total fib: Otrell's obviously got Kelley's hair and eyes, which makes total sense since she's the birth-mom. But disposition-wise.....let's just say that Kelley's forbidden to call the White House any more since the whole "I hope there's a hell so you can burn in it" incident, but Otrell still can if he wants to.)
In other news, Aedin has become fascinated with tape. She's begun "mending" all her toys, which involves taping them to the underside of her desk and letting them hang their like little cocoons until they're "well". While I was there she ran out of tape and tried to use glue. I can follow her logic up to that point. But why she went from gluing toys to making a big ring around the room...protective circle, maybe? Maybe she was hoping the glue would grow as it solidified and make an igloo?
So, how did our budding anarchist spend the day? Well, he practiced his cello in the evening instead of the morning, and only played the pieces he liked; he stayed in his pajamas until it was time to go to the comic book store; he ate macaroni and cheese three times and had a snack of peanut butter toast, and did NOT eat an apple or any broccoli; and he played on the computer even though it's "computer off week".
He loved it. He's said that he wants this for his birthday every year, only he wants 12 hours for himself and 12 hours for his little sister Aedin. When it was pointed out that Aedin gets a birthday too and could just get the hours for her birthday, he said he'd rather do it his way so he'd get "that generous feeling".
I'd been talking with Kelley (Mom 1) a few days before his birthday, and she was a little concerned about his wish, about whether that meant he felt like he was under too much pressure, or something like that. I did not, to my credit, say "Yes, it is, and it's because you don't let him watch television", for that would've been a lie. (Even though, for a media junkie like me, it's like hearing they have a policy about not giving him too much air. He collects action figures of, and visits websites for, cartoons he's never seen! When he showed me something called a Fighting Food-on and I recognized it and told him I'd caught part of the episode where the giant beefsteak fought the fried rice, he looked at me the way a theoretical astrobiologist would look at a living Venusian.)
Instead I told Kelley that it was a normal desire, something I wish *I'd* thought of when I was his age, and that she needed to look at the plans he was making for the day. Was he turning the broomstick into a spear and trying to recreate 'Lord of the Flies' with the housecats? Was he thinking of setting up barricades at the elevator and charging a toll for anyone wanting to get off? Was fire involved in any way? If none of those questions came back as a 'yes', then she should be patting herself on the back for some good parenting skills. Kelley smiled and said it all came from Dana, and this time I *did* fib and say that I saw traces of both of them in Otrell. (Okay, not a total fib: Otrell's obviously got Kelley's hair and eyes, which makes total sense since she's the birth-mom. But disposition-wise.....let's just say that Kelley's forbidden to call the White House any more since the whole "I hope there's a hell so you can burn in it" incident, but Otrell still can if he wants to.)
In other news, Aedin has become fascinated with tape. She's begun "mending" all her toys, which involves taping them to the underside of her desk and letting them hang their like little cocoons until they're "well". While I was there she ran out of tape and tried to use glue. I can follow her logic up to that point. But why she went from gluing toys to making a big ring around the room...protective circle, maybe? Maybe she was hoping the glue would grow as it solidified and make an igloo?
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no subject
Date: 2003-05-21 10:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-05-21 10:13 am (UTC)And we still need to hang out. =)
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Date: 2003-05-21 10:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-05-21 10:39 am (UTC)