Reprise-Life at the speed of Toddler

Once upon a time I had my own toddler.
Acutally I had 3 of them in 2 year intervals.
It was long enough ago that it seems far away.

For half the month of March this year we had a reprise of life with toddler. Suddenly, morning comes early with a grin as we release him from the crib, change the (very) wet diaper and play with stuff on the bed for 20 min before breakfast.
The rest of the day we keep track of his busy pregenerations around the house working on the fascinating business of finding out how doors open & close. What happens when you shout at the cat. How do you put the lid back on ,the box, the food jar, the other box. Sometimes we go on errands in the car and visit the post office, bank, library, great grand mother, the playground. All these things are greated by a stream of friendly commentary in a language that sounds like English but it isn't.

My friend says that at this age baby's know the secrets of the universe and are busy telling everyone they meet. Unfortunately we don't understand the language and by the time they speak ours they don't remember the secerts.

Maybe he will take a nap or two. In any case he is very ready for bathtime and beddie bye by 7pm or so. He dives for that mattress with a sigh I can relate to and settles in for a good 12 hour sleep.

Life at the speed of toddler is kind of relaxing if you arn't trying to do much else besides keeping everyone fed, supplied with clean clothes and tidy living space. You can even read the paper in the course of the day and speak to people on the phone. Much more ambitious plans need to wait till he gets home to Mom & Dad.

It's very quiet now with him gone.
The cats are getting used to peace.
When can he visit again?

Information Resistance

Lots of people have heard of "Insulin resistance". It's blamed for gaining weight and implicated in developing Diabetes. Nasty condition though where in the triangle of insulin resistance/weight gain/diabetes is the start is a good question. Once that cycle gets going it is hard to stop.

Another "resistance" may be FSH or follicle stimulating hormone ressitance in causing menopause. The men. cycle is a complicated cascade of hormones etc that works for 35 years or so in human females but it seems that it comes to a halt when the ovaries containing the "egg" follocles become resistant to the FSH that starts them into development monthly. Eventually the Pituitary gives up producing the FSH stuff and the Menopause is established.

I've noticed something in mostly older people (young ones get it too though) I call it "Information resistance". Somewhere along the line people decide that they know it all or enough of it all that they don't want any more information. This can be amusing as when the retireee has to get his grand kid to make the VCR work but essentially it is a tragedy. When we cease to learn we cease to grow and we start to shrivile and will eventually die. In some cases the facts we refuse to learn my materially hasen that demise. But mostly its a mental thing. Young people, even ones of great chronological age, are ones that will still learn, still be willing to get fresh information, still be teachable by life and people.

Tuesday already

Last post was Friday and the weekend flew with activity and impressions. We drove up to VT in about 5 hrs. arrived safely between snowstorms and got to our friends house after dinner. Quiet night chatting and knitting. Sat early we left for the MOUNTAIN. Skiing is something I know I can do but the thought of actually doing it has been VERY SCARY since last year when I got hurt skiing in the extreme cold then panicked a week later when, still injured, I tried a trail too hard for me. Well, I was determined to overcome mental as well as physical issues (extra weight) and do it. It worked. I rememberd how and relaxed sufficiently to be able to ski OK. Lots of powder Sat. Snowed on us all morning. Quit after 2 hours while realy tired but before anything bad happened from overdoing. We went back to friend shouse and I went to SLEEP. Naps are quite restoring. In the evening we went out to the local arts theatre production of Princess Ida by Gilbert & Sullivan. Funny show. We laughed lots. The actors all hammed it up amuzingly and I have a true visual now for ROTFL. A couple of the cast members came back to the house and we all chatted til midnight. Sunday AM got up and had pleasant breakfast with frinds then head out to RI to collect our grandson for a 2 week visit. He is 15 months old and babbles a lot but dosen't talk. He walks though and plays a lot. Another long drive home and all went well.

Untill next time

Discovery- Hi/Lo

Sorry for not blogging in a while.

Discovered an interesting concept recently. Determining the hi point of a day & the low point of a day. It was being talkd about as a conversation starter around the dinner table but it strikes me as a good idea in many contexts.

It has the disadvantage of asking you to make judgements that may or may not be warranted. Afterall, something that was unpleasant to start with could really be a good thing. Childbirth leaps to mind here. Not fun but what an outcome!

On the other hand it encourages you to be more mindful of your actions and surroundings.

So some recent hi/lows

Wed. Hi- unexpectly acquiring some really nice pieces of furniture from a store that was clearancing. they really puul together the kitchen and the parlor.
Lo- being in tune with my youngest as she stresses about being unable to find a job. Been looking for a medium long time and nothing seemed to be working.

Today Hi- so far hearing that one of the jobs is going to offer daughter employment and getting to tell her to call them back
Lo- realizing that it is snowing & I need to go shopping in it.

Looking forward to an interesting weekend. Skiing, going to the theatre and collecting the toddler for 2 weeks.

BREAKFALL !!

They tell you that you need to learn to breakfall. At least in the Jiujitsu classes I took they did. They tell you that "one of these days someone will throw you and only a breakfall will work & not hurt"

One of these days happened this evening. It was an innocent gathering of Aikidoists, 1 Aikodo black belt, 1 Akiido brown belt/Jiujitsu Black belt, 1 Aikido yellow belt/Judo Black belt & myself Aikido yellow Jiujitsu black belts. We had been working on concpet throws all evening and were finishing with a lione fre form format. The Judo BB was up and throwing he held on just a touch longer than expected and I did it launched into a breakfall. It worked.

It's a good thing I persisted in learning that fall. While they said it was useful they never put it on the required list.

More later.