by David Reamer on February 5, 2012
Okay, for any loyal readers who might have tried to follow my fits and starts, I have to throw in the towel. My eyes can only handle so much computer work, for one. And it’s not easy putting out a good Daddy blog, I’ve learned. I really do wish I could do more to share the incredible experience of fatherhood, but that will have to happen in other ways.
I might use this site to promote my upcoming book, but I will probably use the name I have waiting in the wings, ‘flowoftheuniverse.com/net’ So be on the lookout for that or for the fb page in a few months.
by David Reamer on December 24, 2011
Don’t tell anyone. But I’ve been watching a couple episodes a week of this show,’Felicity’, on Netflix. All the actors are supposed to be 18 but you can tell they’re really between 22 and 27. No, I’m not a 20 year-old female. But the truth is, I think the writing is great. I was watching part of an episode just now (I watch ten minutes a night rather than straight through) and when one more character had one more difficult emotional relationship-crisis, as they do a minimum of five times per episode, I was reminded of our home show today.
After five or so wishes expressed contrary to my desires, for the simple reason that he wanted to be the one to say what happens in his world, he had eaten a gourmet pizza-sandwich prepared by myself (which he also had resisted on principle) and was dressed in fantastic snow gear. That’s when he said he didn’t want to wear a hat. “It’s thirty seven degrees outside. You have to wear a hat. The thin hood on your coat won’t cut it.” “I’m not wearing a hat. I just want the hood!” he shouted. That’s when I got pissed. I banged on the door to make some noise and pulled off his jacket and said we wouldn’t be going outside.
He got upset because I was upset and so we made up and it seemed okay. But he had to play by himself for ten minutes outside while I got dressed, and I think he stewed on it. When I went back out he seemed to be having fun, but then he started asking me to find something under the snow that didn’t exist, something golden, and also to tell him what it was even though it didn’t exist. And then he screamed and cried for ten minutes. I got a little frustrated but for the most part I held him and let him get the emotions out and then we had a good walk, upon which we met a nice dog that he got to pet and give a treat. He asked me to tell him a story, so I told him a story about the dad and boy who got angry at each other and messed it up the first time, but the next time they used their anger to jump higher, over trees and stuff. He wanted to know if he could really jump over a tree the next time he got angry and I had to admit that it was just a story, but we could put a little extra energy into our leap if we headed outdoors with the goal of doing so next time we got angry. To be honest, I don’t know how to work with it very well, but I’m doing my best.
That hour was a classic drama fit for tv: inciting event, rising tension, confusion+uncertainty moving to climactic action, emotional hash-out, ending in a happy resolution + insight + stronger relationship + promise to do better for oneself. As easy as it seems to be a kid, I know it’s not. The dramatic arc is a chore whether you’re three, twenty-three, or forty-three.
