Oh, addiction I suppose.
This weather is a boon. It came just in time. Even as the wolves at my office continue to tear us all apart in their vicious self interested battles, and even as this Sunday eve I prep for the return visit of your favorite wolf and mine (yes folks, he’s back in America yet again!), I can’t be bothered. My husband just sent me an NY Times article about how PhD candidates graduating this year are completely screwed and will never get jobs, and my response is – cool. So you want barbecued chicken breasts for supper tonight?
This morning over coffee and Jack’s burbling chatter, I read another NY Times article today about recession babies. They say children who are babies right now will grow up to be sober, risk-averse, less creative, and stability-seeking adults. When viewed at the macro level, I sometimes wonder what is the point? Some historian with expertise in the Great Depression has laid out my son’s life and future. Eh. Why bother living it, then? What could any of us contribute that is new or interesting? This is why I love books by Anne Tyler. I love writing my own little daily missives about my own little life. The macro tells useful information, I suppose, but I find more optimism in the micro.
I subscribe to an Astronomy blog RSS feed. The hugeness of the ideas there frighten me, which is why I read it. It is good to be frightened by perspective.
But from me today, you get no huge ideas. I have them, but 70 degree days do not lend themselves to self inflicted challenge.
A wee black spider scuttled his way across my bed this morning, and I wasn’t even scared. I took my son to the park, and we met some other kids and he slid down the slide for the first time. He drank from a Nalgene all by himself. I still smell the coconut scent of our 50spf sunscreen. We went to the library. I checked out counting books, Sesame Street DVDs, and CDs of Schoolhouse Rock for him, some mysteries for me. I can’t find the mosquito that is currently biting my feet. It will be light later today, and my husband and I will enjoy a glass of wine on the back porch. He will struggle to find a job. My CEO will say something cruel to me this week. Our kid will be a boring adult. Everything is all right.
The historian with expertise on the Great Depression\’s version of "sober, risk averse" and "less creative" must be different from most people\’s. Ray Charles, Neil Armstrong, Clint Eastwood, Micky Mantle and Johnny Cash were all born during the Great Depression, among hundreds of other staggeringly creative people. When can we get our rain check on dinner? We\’d have loved to come over last night, (perfect grilling weather!) but we\’d already made plans with Sean and Bevin.
Yeah. I did not find it a particularly useful article. And double yeah! Maybe Thursday? Or Fri? We\’ll talk.
I was going to say – the recession will have no more impact on a child than the parents allow it to. With creative parents who foster artistic expression, a spark can be fanned into flames no matter how windy it is. And the wind will only spread the fire. And with a crazy Aunt, how can you think for one moment Jack will be boring?