okay, so just this evening Lyli and Scarleht started calling each other while they were following me around watering the gardens. "come shu-shu", which was followed with either a change of direction and another "come shu-shu" or an incredibly adorable "coming". absurd. the word cute held only a derrogatory space in my vocabulary before having kids, now I can't shake the damn thing. Cursed four letter words.
it's really starting to get on my nerves and I'm curious how other parents have handled it: Lyli and Scarleht keep prefixing every proper noun and every single one of my "service verbs" (diaper change, cooking food, etc.) with "mi" or "my"... being an anarchist I can't possibly stand for this blatant display of would-be-ownership that will only transmute into our current common blend of ego-capitalistic perspective later in life. What in whatever god's name do I do? I tell them: "I'm papa to both of you and you have to share me", "please don't be so goddamn possessive honey", "property is theft sugar bean", "please don't fight over your papa", "actually that chair doesn't belong to anyone ladies", "it's my frickin' chair, not yours!", "can you get your stressed out papa another beer from the fridge?" (just kidding). Any advice? Do I just have to stomach this possessive phase until it evaporates or evolves into something worse? How can I just nip it in the ass and make it go away forever or, better yet, change into some collective turn-taking socialist kid-play? I am at an instinctual loss for the first time in my bout with fatherhood.
plus i went and developed an addiction to Myspace (burn in hell, Rupert Murdoch) so now when no one messages me all day long I get a horrible stab of lonliness, like the world has set on my pretendpire and everyone has forgotten who I am.
Currently reading: Eric Partidge's Short Etymylogical Dictionary of the English Language (give it a go sometimes, you'll learn all sorts of lofty new ways to insult people... critque, I mean critique, not insult).
Ahhhhh, it's late and I've been looking up books for two hours already. Should I dive headlong into another two? Yes, I in fact should do just that.
3 comments:
I love reading etymological dictionaries. I especially love reading an etymological dictionary with only one contributing etymologist, because you can totally tell what his kick was at the time he was writing it. Sometimes I'm annoyed at the squishiness of philology and etymology, but mostly I find it god damn fascinating. And funny.
I should give you a language acquisition book or two if you don't have one. Our language is unfortunately set up so that you can't get away without using possesive pronouns, and since they are in a stage where they are just learning to distinguish themselves as entities separate from the rest of the world, they're going to use the hell out of those pronouns for a while. Do they understand the difference between "I" and "my" in sign yet, or are they using the same for both?
I wonder if there's a language that lacks possessive pronouns. Irish has no verb "to have," opting for prepositions that indicate a relationship between oneself and an object or being, but there's still a possessive pronoun.
K, I am very drunk. I think maybe I am not making sense. Good night.
-antipants
myspace has the exact same power over me.
i console myself with the thought that once i'm employed i won't have that kind of time.......
but man is it great when you log on and there are happy red messages waiting for you!
as for the girls, i couldn't help you there.
but i will say that my brother still talks to me about "his" mother which is really frustrating.
i know little kids are possessive, i don't know if there is an alternative way to dissuede that.
but i definitely haven't forgotten who you are.
-carly
hi honey, be patient "my and me " are important. just think of it this way, they are discovering that they are individuals in this big space around them. they are taking ownership of themselves. they are not as dependent of you to deliver every thing they desire, by taking ownership they make it theirs thereby empowering themselves as an individual. it's not the beginings of a materialistic, narsisistic cooperate mogul living in a penthouse filled with pottery barn and fancy cheese! take pride in the fact that you are such an amazing person that two other beautiful ,intelligent girls want to make you"my poppa!" that doesn't happen often in life, to be given such absolute unconditional love and admoration! belive me there will be a time in the future when they will be disclaiming you( mostly in public when you unsuspectidly do the most embarssing thing imaginable!) so hold on sky, as they say, you're in for a fucking bumpy ride!
-michelle
Post a Comment