Not much to say

In an effort to post regularly - where regularly is rather ill-defined, I'm officially posting. However, I don't really have much to say. I could report out on the activities of the week, but that seems rather boring. I could report on the activities to come, but that seems rather boring too. (Even though I am VERY MUCH looking forward to my weekend in York, Maine, with our dear former neighbors.) I didn't really want this to become a record of my days and weeks, but rather a rambling of what I consider to be my more interesting thoughts. But, well, there just aren't any today. Per my spouse, we are allowed to have those kinds of days. Thank you.

Going to the fair

I've been craving a small town experience for a week now. We are going to the Arlington County Fair today to help satisfy that craving. I grew up in a town of about 1,200 people, less really, if you count all the people in my 10 house "neighborhood." There will probably be 5,000 people at the fair today.

Needed a break

I needed a break from parenting today. Actually, I really needed it yesterday, but it didn't seem feasible to take one, what with my spouse working and all. I suppose I could have drummed up some childcare, but the purpose of working part-time is to spend time with my son. So, to hire a caregiver seemed to defeat that purpose. However, I'm beginning to realize that it just might be OK to take a break. I'm sure this is an "I told you so" moment for those more experienced parents out there. My son is 13 months old, so I didn't take me too long to figure it out. How did I celebrate my break on today, Saturday, August 19, 2006? By going to the office. Hopefully it won't take another 13 months for me to realize that this is probably not really considered a break.

Patience

I've never been a very patient person. I suppose it's a fault. I work on it, and try to be patient and sometimes I'm successful. I was very patient while trying to conceive my son. It took 4 years. Unbelievable when I think about it. But, then again, what was the alternative. (I know there are alternative ways to build your family, but it's not as if any of them are instantaneous and there wasn't an obvious alternative choice for us - it was all a process.) I don't feel very patient right now with my son's sleep habits, or lack thereof. I try to be patient and zen like about it. But, after a long day at work, and a long evening at home, I'm a bit too frazzled to be patient.

22:1

Last Sunday we had the pleasure of having dinner with our friend, Vaughn's, parents, Jean and Clive. They hail from South Africa and every year or two they spend about 6 weeks in "The States." Jean and Clive have lived in South Africa their entire lives and despite the fact that all three of Jean's sons and Clive's daughter are now scattered throughout the world, S. Africa is home. I posed the very open-ended question to Clive, "so how are things in S. Africa these days?" I wasn't really groping for any particular answer or area to discuss, just tossing out a basic conversation starter. I was honored with a nice little lesson in the current state of the S. African economy. I suppose if I actually opened the Economist that we subscribe to I would have been able to interject interesting questions or comments, but instead I just sat back and listened.

Things are good in S. Africa right now, but not great. They have experienced positive economic growth for the past two years, primarily due to a rising black middle class who want to buy clothes and cars and houses and education and other assorted things the middle class want. What struck me was the eagerness with which Clive related these observations and the excitement he has over the successes of the blacks in S. Africa. Mind you, there are 22 blacks in S. Africa for every white person. Whereas in the U.S. I think there are nine whites for every one black person. Now, we didn't get into a discussion of race relations - it was loud, the evening was nearing the end, my son was fussy - but Clive, and all of his pals, are celebrating, encouraging, and participating in moving these previously oppressed people into a middle class status...or beyond. They fully appreciate how the success of one means a success for all. They are going to schools and classrooms and playing Scrabble with youth to help them learn vocabulary words, to spark an interest in learning, to engage the future leaders of their country.

Why do we have such a hard time seeing the benefits of such collaboration in this country?

My sleepless son

My son has decided not to sleep these days. Or, I should say, he's decided not to
sleep in his crib. He'll sleep fine in my arms, or the car seat, or on a nice long walk, but the minute you head to the crib he protests (flailing arms, arched back, etc.) and then proceeds to yell and cry for as long as you leave him there. Yesterday, it was from 12:30-2:30am. This is frustrating. I'd like him to be a more self-sufficient sleeper...he needs it, I need it, the cats need it, my spouse needs it, my neighbors need it. But, how do you figure out what a 12 month old child really needs when his only way of communicating is through cries.

Day 1

I woke up this morning with a desire to do some self-improvement. This is the first step. I created a "blog" account, committed to a title, and am writing the first post. As with my thoughts, we'll see where this goes