Hobson's Choice
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rocket science
Sometimes it's good to be reminded that you have skills, that you've learned some things.
It can be hard, taking care of a kid, to think that you're doing something concrete, that you have skills that the average 7th grader does not. Some days, it seems like just one long cycle of emptying the dishwasher and saying "Don't do that!" It's cooking that gets me down. It has to be done every damn day and the food just disappears. You make a product; you make something tangible; but it doesn't last; you have to do it again tomorrow and tomorrow. On philosophical days, I remind myself that the food makes sinews and nerves, bones and brain, the material product transformed into body and even soul. Cooking is like breathing.
But some days, it's nice just to be reminded that what you're doing is not easy and you've learned some things in three years about how to make it run smoothly.
Today is our trial run for the fall school year. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Chris is going to get himself and Eleanor ready and off for school while I work in his office on maps. Today, I've hung out at the house while they work it out.
And it's gone fabulously and smoothly. Chris is good at it. But... watching him, I see the effort; I see that morning-time is not self-evident; that getting a preschooler and self ready and house tidy and dog outside are not tasks for the weak-hearted. In short, while he's stunning, he's not quite yet a pro. You can see that he's working hard, adding up all the logistics and watching the curve balls.
And it's immensely heartening for a mother worn down in the dailyness of it, to know that while it's not "rocket science" or diplomacy or coal mining or any of the hardest jobs in the world, it is real.
8:40 a.m. - 2005-08-30
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Other diaries: > |
