enemies and friends

Moomin's friend is the sweetest kid.  I'm in awe of his mom, because clearly she is Always Available... Thom kept coming into my room and saying "I need help, I don't understand these instructions..."  "Sorry, I'm too busy to help right now, you and Moomin will have to figure it out or play something else."  "Oh. But what I need is for you to explain..."  "Nope, run along and go play, not right now."  (repeat infinitely)    I could see that it just didn't compute that Mom might sometimes be busy, especially if information was requested.  While... as I said... this makes Thom's mom look like a stud... there is something to be said for kids learning at some point that parents (both) work sometimes.

I love their games... they made a zoo, and signs, and had plans for a show. (Which didn't happen this time.)  I overheard Thom have an epiphany which he tried to share. "If your ENEMY is the bad guys, to them, to the bad guys, they're the good guys and you're the
bad guys, what I mean is, Moomin do you get it, if you're the good guys then the bad guys are bad, but if you're the bad guys, I mean, then you're actually the good guys, because..."  It was charming... Moomin's mind was blown, and yet he still disagreed.  "No, but, bad guys can just be bad. They do bad things. They're bad."   Thom the moral relativist argued for a while, until they suddenly decided they'd pretend to be dolphins.

I want to work on my thesis till I drop, tonight.  Bedtime for Moomin soon... very soon...

Comments

[e]

god, i wish i'd thoughta dolphins when i was in grad school!

[Barak]

I disagree that Thom's mom is a stud. She has clearly spoiled him.

[Marta]

I love your Moomin - also his moral relativist friend.

[Mary]

For the record, I am not Thom's mom. Althought sometimes my kids are just like Thom. I guess it's because they're little.

You have infinite amounts of patience. I will think of you next time I want to scream, "Leave mommy alone for just 5 minutes!!!"

[badgerbag]

Thom's mom is the one with infinite patience... she seriously rocks in that she is always ready to teach her son new things or be there to help him.

He and Moomin do the best "zoo education" shows for me, taking turns holding up stuffed animals and explaining while the other one uses a pointer and the big world map on the wall to show where the animal comes from and its long journey to their Rescue Zoo! Their authoritative manner and fake-science... it's killingly great.

But anyway, I am a firm believer in the virtues of ignoring children in manageable doses. It is important, when establishing the parameters of ignoring, to promise attention afterwards, and make sure to follow through on that promise. I have also... when Moomin is frustrated... set the kitchen timer on myself so that he can call me on my promises when he hears the timer bell.