Some young lady will be very lucky one day!
cirque du bebe
“Just ’cause you got the monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.” — George Carlin
Posted in November 2009 …
Such a little cutie
Tonight when I came home from yoga, Monkey was still up as we have adjusted his bedtime routine to start a half hour later. As I came in the door, I heard DH tell Monkey to “Go give Mama a hug” and there he was at the top of the stairs waiting to give me a hug. Once we hugged, he walked toward the kitchen saying “Come! Come! There’s pizza!” Such a good little man.
Then he said something really cute at bedtime (even though in the end we still had a bedtime battle). After reading some books and putting him in bed, we traditionally sit in the chair next to his bed for about 5 minutes and then leave. While sitting in the chair tonight, I saw his little hand reach over the bed railing while he said, “Wanna hold your hair?” (Monkey loves to play with my hair, I think it’s almost his security blanket). Such a little cutie. How can I be mad?
Stall tactics and other undesirables
The monkey has been a royal you-know-what lately in the bedtime department. It didn’t help that my mother while visiting this week threw him off schedule by letting him nap until 5 pm on Thursday. But even before that he’s been extra needy at bedtime and has come up with new “stall tactics”.
The other night while trying to get him into bed, he first asked for some water. Then he had to use the potty. Then he wanted another book. THEN he said, “I need to trim my nails.” WHAT?! Wow, I was amused and pissed at the same time. Where does a two year old learn these things?
Other trickery he’s been up to … One of my common positive responses to Monkey’s requests is “That’s fine.” So now he’s decided he’ll ask and answer for me. For instance:
MONKEY: Can I have animal crackers?
MONKEY: That’s fine. (before I even get a chance to answer — this is in cases where he darn well knows I’m not going to give him any)
He’s also developed some very bad behaviors which are really starting to annoy us. The one neither of us can get over is the wall banging thing when he doesn’t get his way or doesn’t want to do something. He’s taken to smashing his toy cars into the wall repeatedly (leaving little dents and marks). Then last night, because he didn’t want to go to bed, he sat at the bottom of stairs crying and screaming. Amidst the tantrum, DH and I heard banging (assuming it was the car again), then I heard what I thought was him falling on the stairs. Well, no, it wasn’t him falling. He had taken the red step stool we have in our powder room near the bottom of the stairs and threw it at the wall TWICE, leaving larger dents and very distinct red marks on the wall.
DH has asked where he is getting this from and I’m hoping it’s not me. I have been known to throw things when angry but I haven’t been that angry recently to encourage or teach this behavior to Monkey. I do slam doors sometimes. But I’ve been trying to check this behavior of my own because I realize he’s a little sponge. In my defense, my tantrums don’t take on the rock star status that Monkey’s has been lately. But oh I wish I could explain to him why putting dents in the wall is different but in the end it just isn’t really. So in this regard, I can pinpoint the source (I think) and I need to correct it.
End of an era
My last post is completely different from this post. However, I will try to include some positive somewhere in here.
The end of the 4fatcats era has come. I suppose it’s time to move on and redefine myself as a non-pet owner. For so long I was defined almost by the fact that I owned 4 cats. This evening I went to the vet for one last euthanasia, this time for Pia. I love the old girl. She’s been with me through so much. The dark ages with my ex-boyfriend from college, the trans-formative years when I was finally trying to figure out who I was, the dating years, the married years and lastly, the mommy years.
Often DH would play the “fire” game as he calls it where he’d ask, “If the house were on fire and all four cats were lined up equal distance from each other and you could only take ONE, which one would it be?” I’d decline to answer because I didn’t want to seem partial to one but the answer in my head was always “Pia”. But if anything I learned from Duzee, it was not to hold on too long. Surrender and let go.
Pia’s inner eyelid on her left eye was messed up and caused her grief. She had hypothyroidism like Duzee had and required medication every day. And to top that off, she was in desperate need of dental work making it hard for her to eat. To fix her up and continue medication would cost a good chunk of money which as everyone keeps telling me, just isn’t viable for an older cat like Pia (she was 16, would have been 17 in January).
For the past few months she had started crying at night and it had progressively gotten worse. Then she started going into the hallway between all of our bedrooms and crying which woke everyone up, including Monkey. It was clear she wasn’t well.
I hated making this decision but it’s the responsible thing to do. Farewell, Pia. I will always remember your super loud purr, your so very soft gray fur and the way you’d sit so elegant with your tail wrapped around you. I’ll remember when you were a kitten and would suckle on my ear at night and sleep under the covers with me. You’ve been a great companion and I will miss you dearly.
I’ll have some more positive, pleased
I’ve mentioned before that I practice Bikram Yoga and how that style of yoga is suitable to my personality than most other types. It’s a little more hardcore and a bit less focused on the spiritual but the spiritual element is still there. There is no chanting or singing but there is definitely a focus on mind/body connection. However, that being said, I think in this cynical world sometimes we need some more spiritual, more happy, more positive thinking. Less greed, less back-stabbing, less name calling, less dog-eat-dog.
During yoga class earlier this week I could imagine how most people attending the class for the first time would react to some of the common themes in any yoga class. For instance, at the end of every class, the instructor says, “Namaste”. And the students respond, “Namaste”. It means “I bow to you” — sometimes interpreted as “the good in me recognizes the good in you”. I can imagine them rolling their eyes during certain inspirational thoughts expressed by the instructor. Or thinking that in general (especially Bikram Yoga) is completely nuts.
With regular practice though, you begin to appreciate the finer details of what it really is meant to do. Strip away focus from the outer world and bring that focus onto yourself. There are very few places where can you focus solely on YOU without guilt or regret. Where your leader will encourage you push yourself but only to the point where you are without pain. Where you can stop thinking so darn much and just follow the instructions as they register within your ear then your brain.
My yoga class is my refuge from my own worry and doubt, from scrutinizing peers or family and when the class is over, sometimes from physical pain. I sincerely hope each of you has someplace you can call your refuge from the cynical, cold world. Somewhere you can be you without fear or judgment. And I hope you can find the time to create some positive in your own life and maybe, just maybe, if we all create some positive, it will become contagious.
