ah, my mother; baby names

[flea]

Email subject line: How many mothers and grandmothers

Content: Are discussing the article "Whose Bed is it Anyway?"
in today's NYT. Don't all those exhausted families
sound silly and wimpy? And don't their bedrooms seem
too fancy for them to deserve everything going right.
Too bad raising good kids, kids with boundaries, isn't
their top priority...Can you imagine sharing your bed
with 5 year old Dillopie?????And 8 year old Casper?
Oops you mean you intend to?
Actually, the part of the article I did like was the
statement by the mental health pro that setting
boundaries for children is important and the bedtime
is a part of that. KEep up the good work! (KEep
trying, that is.)
Do not be offended by this message. IT is meant to be
funny.
love, D

Note to mother (and everyone else watching): If you have to SAY "Do not be offended; this is meant to be funny," maybe you should just keep quiet.

I haven't even read the article yet. Ugh.

Born to Beth and Matt: Jonah Peter
Born to Connie and Truman: Truman, to be called, we think, Tucker, or something. Sisters are Wilder and Annabel.

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Okay, the funniest part of the whole thing is the "I am a parent that believes in BOUNDARIES! Except for the part where I butt in on my daughter's parenting skills."

Ah, mother. Ha ha ha ha ha!

I think the appropriate response is pointing out how shitty and neo-bourgeois the NYT coverage of women and parenting has become in the past two years. Critical thinking skills are a good thing!! (Especially if you can remind her that you're not neo-bourgeois.)

[ste-noni.livejournal.com]

Your posts about your mother *always* make me laugh and breathe a little sigh of relief because, at least online, she comes across as so...willing to share her opinions.

I haven't read the article yet, but I can only imagine. Not only do I whole-heartedly agree with Cash's never say never, but the longer Ellie is around, the more and more I trust my own judgment to decide what is good for her and what is not. I don't want her in our bed when she's 5, but I might change mmy mind about that in the future.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Oh, she's like this in person, too. When she first met mr. flea, we'd been dating for less than 6 months, although we'd done a trip overseas together that felt like a honeymoon. IOW, we were pretty serious, but I don't know that my mother knew how serious. And she said to him within a couple of hours of meeting him, "What level of socieconomic status do you aspire to?"

It's a good thing he's a brave man.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Not to psychoanalyze excessively, but you should have seen her reacting to Brother's girlfriend, who as you know was not raised among Our Kind socioeconomically speaking. She was very friendly, but struggled with the condescenscion. Or, struggled to understand that her behavior was condescending, despite my telling her so several times.

There are certain ossified things one endures in one's kin; I think that if I were to bring home a Rockefeller I would instantly be transmogrified into the genius of the family.

[zmayhem.livejournal.com]

I think that if I were to bring home a Rockefeller I would instantly be transmogrified into the genius of the family.

Heh. This is exactly how my baby brother redeemed himself in the eyes of our dad: sure, he's gayer than gay, but he married a tall, charming, handsome, aggressively Midwestern prep-school graduate with a bushel of easy social graces and an impressive-sounding Manhattan corporate career. Aside from his spouse being the same gender, my brother has given our dad exactly the child-in-law he's dreamed of all his life.

And, damn. That, on a first meeting? mr. flea is made of courage.

[ste-noni.livejournal.com]

He is a brave man!

I meant to add that when I first read "Keep up the good work! (Keep trying, that is.)" I assumed she meant although you were failing you should keep trying to do good work. Now I'm reading it as "parenting is not good 'work' exactly but a constant series of 'trying'" although having read your other comments, I'm not sure.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Okay, the funniest part of the whole thing is the "I am a parent that believes in BOUNDARIES! Except for the part where I butt in on my daughter's parenting skills."

Exactamundo.