Free Topic - LJ Idol
My dad is a gadget guy. He loves novelty technology of all kinds. He is one of the few people in this world who not only knows what a CueCat is, but actually has one that functions in his study. When my sons were born, he ran out and bought a two foot tall robot "for them". The robot lives with my parents so, one can figure out who it was really purchased for. My mother finds it endearing that he claims it was purchased for the kids. If my dad was a little more clever, he would realize that he could get my mom to go along with purchasing that new surround sound system if he told her it was so the twins could enjoy Finding Nemo more thoroughly.
The robot a rather stunning piece of electronic wizardry. It looks like a space man with pincers for hands and little light up eyes. Among its array of charming abilities, it has the power to burp, grunt, fart, yawn, do Karate, and say "Ouch!" when it walks in to a wall. I particularly like the feature called "dance". It plays a tune that sounds suspiciously like "Funky Town" by Lipps Inc. and does a 2 minute long dance. I could sit for hours watching it go. It's deceptively amusing.
When my boys were a little younger, they regarded the robot with curiousity and interest. Peter, especially, liked to take the robot's remote control and mash the buttons until the robot appeared to be having a seizure. But, Peter is rather equal opportunity with remote controls. He loves to mash buttons even if the remote doesn't do anything. A reaction from some electronic device is just a bonus for him. Robert had more refined tastes and preferred to sit back and listen to the robot fart.
It had been a few months since the boys had played with the robot, so I decided to haul it out when we were visiting yesterday. When I did, I wasn't prepared for their reaction. They flipped their nuts and started crying hysterically at the sight of it. When I made the robot do some of their favorite tricks, the twins backed out of the room, whimpering. I even tried to give Peter the remote. He screamed at me and pushed it away.
I put the robot away with a sigh. It was so frustrating to offer an entertaining toy to my boys and to have them run away from it. It's a harmless robot! I remembered when I was in college I took a class on human growth and development. We learned that at some point (I am sure they were more specific in the class, but it was an 8am class and one can't be expected to retain EVERYTHING) toddlers become frightened of things that are unpredictable. In the video that accomplinied the lesson, they showed a video of a toddler flipping out at a robot like my dad's. I shouldn't have been surprised that the forgot their robot friend and were now irrationally scared of it. When will this stage be over, I wondered.
When will it, indeed. I thought about myself and how I was still scared shitless over unpredictible and unexpected things. Right now I am 10 weeks pregnant with our third baby. This was not planned or expected. I spent most of the last 8 weeks scared and crying. We don't know where we are going to live, we don't know how we will support this new baby, we don't know how we'll manage 3 kids under 3. This is, quite literally, one of my worst nightmares.
When I am handing the remote for the robot to the boys, I am giving them something harmless and fun. Something that's meant to entertain them. All they see is something unknown and scary. And maybe, just maybe, I am doing the exact same thing on a larger scale. Am I fearing something that is actually going to be a great joy? Am I trying to run away from something wonderful?
I couldn't believe how simple it all seemed when I broke it down like that. I sat on the couch with my still nervous boys curled up in my lap. They were eyeing the robot on his shelf suspiciously. Robert gave a little sigh and snuggled closer to me. Peter looked up at me and said, "Mama?" Peter says that a lot. I am never entirely sure why he says it, but at that moment, I like to imagine I know exactly what he meant.
"Mama? Life is pretty scary and unpredictible, but it's okay. We have each other."
The robot a rather stunning piece of electronic wizardry. It looks like a space man with pincers for hands and little light up eyes. Among its array of charming abilities, it has the power to burp, grunt, fart, yawn, do Karate, and say "Ouch!" when it walks in to a wall. I particularly like the feature called "dance". It plays a tune that sounds suspiciously like "Funky Town" by Lipps Inc. and does a 2 minute long dance. I could sit for hours watching it go. It's deceptively amusing.
When my boys were a little younger, they regarded the robot with curiousity and interest. Peter, especially, liked to take the robot's remote control and mash the buttons until the robot appeared to be having a seizure. But, Peter is rather equal opportunity with remote controls. He loves to mash buttons even if the remote doesn't do anything. A reaction from some electronic device is just a bonus for him. Robert had more refined tastes and preferred to sit back and listen to the robot fart.
It had been a few months since the boys had played with the robot, so I decided to haul it out when we were visiting yesterday. When I did, I wasn't prepared for their reaction. They flipped their nuts and started crying hysterically at the sight of it. When I made the robot do some of their favorite tricks, the twins backed out of the room, whimpering. I even tried to give Peter the remote. He screamed at me and pushed it away.
I put the robot away with a sigh. It was so frustrating to offer an entertaining toy to my boys and to have them run away from it. It's a harmless robot! I remembered when I was in college I took a class on human growth and development. We learned that at some point (I am sure they were more specific in the class, but it was an 8am class and one can't be expected to retain EVERYTHING) toddlers become frightened of things that are unpredictable. In the video that accomplinied the lesson, they showed a video of a toddler flipping out at a robot like my dad's. I shouldn't have been surprised that the forgot their robot friend and were now irrationally scared of it. When will this stage be over, I wondered.
When will it, indeed. I thought about myself and how I was still scared shitless over unpredictible and unexpected things. Right now I am 10 weeks pregnant with our third baby. This was not planned or expected. I spent most of the last 8 weeks scared and crying. We don't know where we are going to live, we don't know how we will support this new baby, we don't know how we'll manage 3 kids under 3. This is, quite literally, one of my worst nightmares.
When I am handing the remote for the robot to the boys, I am giving them something harmless and fun. Something that's meant to entertain them. All they see is something unknown and scary. And maybe, just maybe, I am doing the exact same thing on a larger scale. Am I fearing something that is actually going to be a great joy? Am I trying to run away from something wonderful?
I couldn't believe how simple it all seemed when I broke it down like that. I sat on the couch with my still nervous boys curled up in my lap. They were eyeing the robot on his shelf suspiciously. Robert gave a little sigh and snuggled closer to me. Peter looked up at me and said, "Mama?" Peter says that a lot. I am never entirely sure why he says it, but at that moment, I like to imagine I know exactly what he meant.
"Mama? Life is pretty scary and unpredictible, but it's okay. We have each other."