Generation Gap
"'I two!" Zen Baby proudly proclaims to her older cousin, waving her contorted fingers in the air as emphasis.
"No." Her cousin disagrees. "I'm two."
"Ya." Zen Baby agrees, still trying to force her fingers into the proper configuration. "I'm two."
Benjamin shakes his head vehemently. "NO. I'm two."
Regan nods companionably. "Ya. I'm two."
Benjamin is becoming frustrated that this baby is trying to muscle in on his Big Boy status. Afterall, she doesnt wear Pull Ups. She doesn't go to preschool. She can't even form her fingers into a two, for crying out loud. He pulls out the big guns to put an end to this affront to his dignity. "I'm a BIG BOY."
Regan smiles at him in happy adoration. "Ya." She agrees. "I a big boy. Too."
At some stages in life, a generation can be measured not in decades or even years, but in months. And at no age is this more evident than in the difference between a newly minted 2 year-old and an almost 3 year-old. Afterall, whether or not you remember when Mr. Snuffalupagus was invisible, or saw your John Hughes movies in the theatre or on television, or used Eminem and not Violent Femmes to piss your parents off are simple matters of pop culture. But Preschool over Playgroup? Strolling vs Stroller? Panties and not Pampers? These are the issues that separate the Big Kids from the Babies.
Comments
Dear SM,
I too am a solo mom (I love that expression by the way) I love to read the blogs on the site, but it's hard to relate to The young single girl (although I am young and single, I can't really relate) or the newly wed, etc. Thanks for putting us ladies and single dads too, on the map. It is hard for those who can't relate to understand, buts it's nice to have someone that does.
Dear SM,
I'm not a single mom, I'm not a mom at all in fact, but for three years I lived with my brother and his wife and in that time they had a 3 year old and a new born (now 6 and 2 years old) and I have just recently moved out. It sounds to me like you, as a solo mum, cope much better than they ever did! Even now, these two kids (which I love with all my heart, don't get me wrong) are two of the worst behaved children on the planet, and their parents need some parenting lessons, the main reason I left... So keep up the good work, it sounds like you're on top of everything. Lovely blog too by the way
