In A Mood
Yes, I’m In A Mood. It’s not a black mood or a gray mood, but it is a particularly sharp mood. I am unwilling to suffer much today, fools and interruptions included. So, you know, I logged onto Pandemic, played a bacteria called Streptopretty, and killed everyone in the world except those in Madagascar.
Dammit. I know I should feel vindicated and triumphant, but instead I’m going Madagascar? ARGH! It seems like such a nice place.
Last night I had dinner with the other half of my writing brain (aka the Selkie) and was gladdened to do so. I’d missed her while she was out gettin’ wacky with the Death Eaters in Dallas. So, for all you Death Eaters out there: Harry and the Potters!
Thanks to Squeaker for pointing that out to me.
Last night the Muffin and I had a talk about the Princess having a pocketknife. Now, I never cut myself with a pocketknife when I was her age. I used it to fix my bike, and that’s about it. Boys always wanted to borrow my pocketknife, but I never let them.
I was kind-of-sheltered, not dumb.
The Muffin’s experience was, shall we say, somewhat different. It’s probably a guy thing to get a pocketknife and immediately start letting in air because one is bollicking about with it. He’s afraid she’s going to hurt herself with it, and since I am usually the more protective parent (by an order of magnitude) he was surprised I got her one.
*sigh* Dude, my girl is smart and she’s careful. She understands the thing is a Big People item. And the proof of this? As the Muffin said, “When I got a pocketknife, I immediately wanted to start whittlin’. She gets one and is like, oooh, look. It’s got a magnifying glass! I can LOOK AT THINGS!” He paused. “She doesn’t even want to kill ants with it, you know.”
Cue me rolling my eyes here. *snerk*
But there’s a funny thing when you have this sort of conversation with guys. I was at the point of, “Okay, I hear what you’re saying, what would you like to do about it? Do you want to wait to have her play with it when she’s older, or do you think she needs more safety training to play with it now?”
And he would just keep repeating that he didn’t want his baby girl letting in air, and that I was usually the more conservative parent, and he was surprised.
Which, to me, said “I’m still angry and upset over this. Soothe me.”
*headdesk* So I got all worked up thinking he was angry and not calming down. When all I wanted was to just fix the problem, get to a consensus, and restore harmony. It didn’t work too well. I ended up going to bed feeling a bit emotionally battered. Because of course we got to the end of the discussion and he didn’t want to do anything, so it’s up to me to decide whether or not the Princess is mature enough for a pocketknife. Now that I know how the Muffin feels I’ll have another serious talk with her about safety, but the thing of it is…well, she’s had the knife for four or five days and hasn’t touched it. She’s more interested in her Barbies and Bratz, no matter that she was utterly enchanted with the Daring Book For Girls. (Which started this whole thing.) As the Muffin himself admitted, he would have cut himself ten minutes after acquiring said Swiss Army knife at her age.
Eh. I’m sure it will be all right–I wouldn’t have bought her the damn thing if I’d thought she was going to be stupid with it, OR use it anywhere but the back yard. But I’m kind of upset that I wanted to restore consensus and harmony and wasn’t able to do so. I prize tranquility in my home space, dammit.
ANYWAY, I suspect that’s why I’m in a mood and listening to Bonnie Raitt, who usually does wonders to calm me down and make me feel happy. And speaking of Bonnie, I found this cover of I Can’t Make You Love Me, by none other than George Michael. OMG. It’s awesome. Selkie, have you heard this one?
All right. Deep breaths. Today will only get better. I am serene. I am tranquil. I am calm, calm, calm.
Eh. If I keep repeating it I might even believe it.
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July 19th, 2008 at 11:23 am
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