Saturday, September 10, 2011

Same is not an evil word


I wish I loved anything as much as my husband loves football. Or Howard Stern, or gardening, or pretzels. While I may not approve of all his hobbies (such as the requisite trip to Vegas this weekend for his fantasy football draft. yeah, that's happening), I'm at least impressed by his commitment to them. He makes time for the things that mean something to him. There is something very earnest about the consistency of his habits. He knows what he likes and what he doesn't. As for me, well, I change my mind about who I want to be when I grow up every other day.

Routines and I have never agreed. When I worked at a law firm in NY, I had an officemate for a year who was just about the nicest guy (at a big law firm, this was like rooming with a unicorn). He adored the Mets, Jon Stewart and ate the exact same lunch at his desk EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I never, ever saw him eat anything but a turkey sandwich on toasted white bread, with mustard and mayo and a side of chips. This drove me bananas. How could he not want some variety? And how could he stand the smell of mayo?? Once a week I would to try to entice him to eat something different, to no avail. Meanwhile, I could never decide what I wanted and would spend a good twenty minutes of my lunch hour walking up and down the streets willing a new takeout place to come into existence.

Lately, I feel like my mind bores just as easily as my palate. I talk a big game about wanting to write, or volunteer, or make all my own baby food, or leave my house before noon. But, I'm not so good at the follow through. Just as I get a rhythm going, I find something new that attracts me and I fall in like with the next project. Part of this might be explained by the lack of structure in my life since I left my full-time job and began caring for a child who changes personalities on a minute-to-minute basis.

Given my own Sybil-like tendencies, how I ever expect my baby to be the same from day to day? Surely just because he wolfed down a particular food yesterday doesn't mean anything about whether he'll even deign to let it touch his tongue today. And, don't even get me started on the toys. Sometimes he plays for hours with the same toy and sometimes he tears through forty of them in a matter of minutes. His acting talents are on full display these days as he goes from crying to laughing in the same breath. It's beginning to dawn on me how much this fickle boy takes after his mama. Maybe we both need to start some daily to do lists.

Mine:
Finish projects
Keep Mr. Monk alive and kicking

His:
Grow
Learn
Kick

5 comments:

  1. I love this post Elana! I read it and the entire time I kept saying "uh huh thats me" - "oh thats me too." Maybe one day I'll figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

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  2. OMG my hubby is all about football and fantasy drafts. I wish I could love a hobby {so far I am digging the blogging} as much as he loves football. Love your post!

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  3. My cube mate and I have the lunch dilemma every single day.
    "What do you feel like?"
    "I dunno. What are you gonna have?"
    There was one day when we both went hungry and just didn't eat because neither of us could decide what sounded good. We are seriously so spoiled. :)

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  4. I can't begin to tell you how much I related to this post. From the fantasy football draft to the daily routines! I've just started trying to enforce a routine for both me and my son throughout the day.

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  5. Good to know I'm not the only one! Maybe it's a girl thing? We're clearly just more complex (complicated?) people.

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