More On Parenting

Toby puked last night. Just as Michelle was putting him to bed, he upchucked all over his jammies. He seemed as surprised as we were. Just kept saying, "Oh man! Oh man!" It's okay Toby, it's okay. We got him cleaned up, changed his sheet, and tucked him in for the night. Two minutes later he did it again.

He hadn't seemed at all sick at any time during the day. He'd been his normal, happy self. True, he had adamantly refused lunch, but that seemed more out of a disinclination to sit still than anything else. He did eat an apple in the afternoon, and a pretty good supper.

We were mystified. He hadn't eaten anything he wasn't used to, didn't seem to have a bug. More clean-up, more comforting, another sheet (his last, so Mom got smart and put a towel over it), and he slept soundly all night. Today he's fine.

I share this with you, not merely for the sheer delight you undoubtedly get out of reading a story about vomiting, but as a parallel to Michelle's thoughts about wanting to BE Alicia's Mom. A parable of parenting, perhaps. Because when I pulled Toby's pajamas off for the second time last night, wiping chunks of...er, wiping unidentified chunks from his chin, and held him against my chest whispering "it's okay," I was genuinely happy. I felt like there wasn't anything in the world I would rather be doing. I could believe that every parent secretly loves it when their child is sick. There is nothing better than being one of the only two people in the world who can make it better when a small, beautiful person is suffering. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I have two throwing up on me on a regular basis. Perhaps I wouldn't have felt quite as warm and fuzzy if he'd done it at three in the morning. But I don't think I will ever hesitate to pick up my snotty, barf-covered child and let him or her know that it's going to be alright.

[/sentimentality]

Continuing my New Year's Resolution to review 100 movies in 2006:

3 -- Meet the Fockers
Michelle and I both liked this sequel more than the original, which was a surprise since I didn't hear anybody say it was as good. Perhaps it was because it didn't get quite as crazy as the first (let's just say neither of us are really the type to enjoy the "husband starts a grease fire in the kitchen while junior takes an axe to the piano" brand of sitcom) or perhaps it was the brilliant addition of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand to the mix, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

4 -- Robots
Hollywood seems to have figured out that we the viewing public would like Robin Williams delivered in small doses, please. In their most recent computer animated offering, Pixar lets him out of the lamp for just a few minutes at a time, riding the rest of their incredible cast through a solid piece of harmless fun. You know what to expect from these guys by now. Cool visuals, imaginative, detailed setting, vaguely disturbing themes.

5 -- What the Bleep Do We Know?
Of course I enjoyed this exuberant documentary starring my favorite deaf pollster, but it wasn't about quantum physics as much as I expected. After the first delightfully mind-scrambling 30 minutes, it quickly degenerated into a diatribe on the power of positive thinking. I agree with the bald guy a lot, not so much the TV psychic lady.

My boast of "100 movies in 2006" was of course made in jest, but you have to admit I'm on a pretty good pace so far.