blogs
Mom NOT Logic
The Internet has opened worlds previously undiscovered to me. Worlds, I tell you!
And after some serious research on my part, (read: wasting time at work) I have discovered the ULTIMATE, the most stupefying oxymoron ever. And, for those that were dozing off or writing intricately-folded notes during eighth grade English, an oxymoron is "a figure of speech that contains two normally contradicting terms." (Thank you, Wikipedia!)
Here's an example: "living dead" as in The Night of. And here, for all of you perched anxiously on the edge of your seats to see what the Internet has turned up, is a Web site I visit often that has this amazing oxymoron as the title. Ready? MOMLOGIC.
I am not quite sure what two words COULD be more contradictory, since we ALL, all of us mothers, have some real blinders on when it comes to our children and logic. Even me. Or, perhaps, especially me.
I can't figure out if these are harder times to parent to the overload of information available, particularly in the form of terrifying stories, or if the tragic stories, warnings and information make our children safer, while simultaneously knocking years off of OUR lives.
I try to make decisions, especially ones with regards to safety vs. freedom/independence logically, meaning that when Flipper goes outside to play, I realize that the odds that she will be kidnapped by a stranger are very very low. Approximately 100 kids a year are snatched by strangers, and the ending is usually not a happy one. But 100 is very, very few, and so she is, in all probability, safe.
But still I worry, the "mom" side winning out over the "logic" side. Actually, come to think of it, the "mom" side often wins. I know she won't starve if she hates what we have for dinner...but I still make sure that there is at least SOMETHING she finds palatable.
I know that she has friends, is a good friend...yet have to sit on my hands and bite my tongue to keep from interfering in a playdate argument over Legos. Between 5 year olds!!
When will it end? Will it end? Or, will the rest of my life be marked by endless internal debate and the second-guessing of decisions? And then I will write a book, entitled "My Life as an Oxymoron" and invite many scathing comments on the second half of that word...the "moron" half.
Leigh appears every Monday on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Leigh at her blog Flipper and Me.
Leigh Sparacino
Leigh is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Monday.
Leigh grew up in Durham, attended college in
North Carolina, left the area for an island off the coast of Georgia,
the high mountains of Colorado, and her favorite mountains in western
North Carolina, before returning to the Triangle eight years ago. She lives near
Carrboro with her 4.5-year-old daughter Flipper and two dogs. She
is single in marital status only, surrounded by friends, family, and
her daughter's very involved and loving father. She works part-time and
tries to be as involved as possible in her daughter's school, The
Emerson Waldorf School, where Flipper is a kindergartner. She likes
wood, glass and other natural materials for toys, loves the principles
of Waldorf education and hates plastic. She might be the only person in
the world with no TV and who hasn't been to a movie in 15 years, but races
to the mailbox every Saturday for the most recent issue of People
magazine. In other words, a contradiction. Or just human.
The Internet has opened worlds previously undiscovered to me. Worlds, I tell you!
And after some serious research on my part, (read: wasting time at work) I have discovered the ULTIMATE, the most stupefying oxymoron ever. And, for those that were dozing off or writing intricately-folded notes during eighth grade English, an oxymoron is "a figure of speech that contains two normally contradicting terms." (Thank you, Wikipedia!)
Here's an example: "living dead" as in The Night of. And here, for all of you perched anxiously on the edge of your seats to see what the Internet has turned up, is a Web site I visit often that has this amazing oxymoron as the title. Ready? MOMLOGIC.
I am not quite sure what two words COULD be more contradictory, since we ALL, all of us mothers, have some real blinders on when it comes to our children and logic. Even me. Or, perhaps, especially me.
I can't figure out if these are harder times to parent to the overload of information available, particularly in the form of terrifying stories, or if the tragic stories, warnings and information make our children safer, while simultaneously knocking years off of OUR lives.
I try to make decisions, especially ones with regards to safety vs. freedom/independence logically, meaning that when Flipper goes outside to play, I realize that the odds that she will be kidnapped by a stranger are very very low. Approximately 100 kids a year are snatched by strangers, and the ending is usually not a happy one. But 100 is very, very few, and so she is, in all probability, safe.
But still I worry, the "mom" side winning out over the "logic" side. Actually, come to think of it, the "mom" side often wins. I know she won't starve if she hates what we have for dinner...but I still make sure that there is at least SOMETHING she finds palatable.
I know that she has friends, is a good friend...yet have to sit on my hands and bite my tongue to keep from interfering in a playdate argument over Legos. Between 5 year olds!!
When will it end? Will it end? Or, will the rest of my life be marked by endless internal debate and the second-guessing of decisions? And then I will write a book, entitled "My Life as an Oxymoron" and invite many scathing comments on the second half of that word...the "moron" half.
Leigh appears every Monday on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Leigh at her blog Flipper and Me.
Leigh Sparacino
Leigh is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Monday.
Leigh grew up in Durham, attended college in North Carolina, left the area for an island off the coast of Georgia, the high mountains of Colorado, and her favorite mountains in western North Carolina, before returning to the Triangle eight years ago. She lives near Carrboro with her 4.5-year-old daughter Flipper and two dogs. She is single in marital status only, surrounded by friends, family, and her daughter's very involved and loving father. She works part-time and tries to be as involved as possible in her daughter's school, The Emerson Waldorf School, where Flipper is a kindergartner. She likes wood, glass and other natural materials for toys, loves the principles of Waldorf education and hates plastic. She might be the only person in the world with no TV and who hasn't been to a movie in 15 years, but races to the mailbox every Saturday for the most recent issue of People magazine. In other words, a contradiction. Or just human.
Comments
Maybe the key is trying to turn off the Mommy brain. Since Momlogic doesn't work, just go with MGD (mom's gut decisions) not based on logic. Then you don't think about anything.
you will spend your entire life second geussing yourself with respect to your kids