#336

Michael shaved. No shit. First time. You turn around one day and they're big. And hairy.

Oh, the ups and downs of parenting.... It's painful when M 'n' m exhibit issues I can see, especially in hindsight, may come from my biology and chemistry, my heredity in other words – oversensitivity, insecurity, anxiety, social unskillfulness, no need to list them all – which compounds my frustration in trying to help them. For example: Megan needs to be more aggressive in sports. She's gifted with athleticism. She needs to care less about appearances, and more about playing with intensity, competing, staying focused. If I sound crazy – there's that synonym for 'parent' again – rest assured I'm not too tough on Meg. Many of you know this. My point, and the part that puts a little zing in the heartache, is that I was the same way, and even today struggle with competitiveness and intensity. Expecting Megan to change overnight is ludicrous. Expecting her to change at all perhaps....

My favorite scene in the movie Forrest Gump is when Jenny shows Forrest a little boy...

Jenny: His name's Forrest.
Forrest: Like me.
J: I named him after his daddy.
F: He got a daddy named Forrest, too?
J: You're his daddy, Forrest.

And then the touching part, Forrest knows what his shortcomings are; his expression changes; he's instantly worried about the obvious...

Forrest: He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen but is he smart or is he...?
Jenny: He's very smart, Forrest. He's one of the smartest in his class.

Some of our flaws flow downstream, so to speak, but not all. This is good. And maybe it would be good if parenting was more like... the army?

Drill Sergeant: Gump! What is your sole purpose in this army?
Forrest Gump: To do whatever you tell me, Drill Sergeant!
DS: God damn it, Gump! You're a god damn genius! This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard. You must have a goddamn I.Q. of 160. You are goddamn gifted, Private Gump.
F: [narrates] Now for some reason I fit in the army like one of them round pegs. It's not really hard. You just make your bed real neat and remember to stand up straight and always answer every question with "Yes, Drill Sergeant."
DS: ...Is that clear?
F: Yes, Drill Sergeant!