Tuesday, January 24, 2006
two posts in one day!
unheard of! but i was thinking about something, and wondered what others thought about it. i have this life-span development class, and it meets on Tuesday nights (uh, so i went tonight), and we're basically going through the life span of humans and examining some of the factors that contribute to...well...life, i guess. psychologically, cognitively, socially, etc.
tonight, we talked about (pre-)birth to three years. and we got into groups and discussed some things that were surprising, special or different about our births or infanthood. one of the girls in my group said, "wow, this seems like such a cool time in my life. i wish i could remember it."
that's the thing, we don't. we just don't have the capacity to. there are some stories that i think i remember, because i've heard them sooo sooo many times. but i really don't.
the other thing is - my parents do remember. they remember the entire nine months i was in the womb, they remember my first blink, word, steps, day of school, haircut, bike ride, bike wreck, and so many other things that i have no idea about. i mean, i assume i took a first step, because now i can walk! but i don't remember it.
i got to thinking about how this whole growing up thing is affecting my parents. i think i've been pretty selfish thus far, only focusing on what makes it hard for me, why it sucks for me, and the fact that i can't find a balance where everyone is happy and comfortable.
i think about how hard it was to drive away from matt and heather last week. knowing that, no matter how much people told me it wasn't that much different from this past semester with heather in Nashville, that it really was. that it's the beginning of a stage in their lives that is just so different from what i'm experiencing that it might be difficult to keep up with them.
and i've only known them for two and a half years.
my parents have known me for so much longer than that. we've been through so much more together than could possibly be squeezed into two and a half years.
i don't know. maybe this is a perspective check for me. when i told my dad about Thailand, he went and found it on the globe. when my mom got the phone back, i commented on my dad's immediate travels to the living room to find out exactly where i was thinking about going. she said something like "oh, yeah, that's just what he does. well, i better put Chip (our cat) in the basement so i can open the bedroom door so it can start warming up." immediate transition. denial? it seems like they don't want to talk about it for real.
i just don't know.
this growing up thing isn't so easy after all. for me, but even more so, i think, for my parents.
peace
tonight, we talked about (pre-)birth to three years. and we got into groups and discussed some things that were surprising, special or different about our births or infanthood. one of the girls in my group said, "wow, this seems like such a cool time in my life. i wish i could remember it."
that's the thing, we don't. we just don't have the capacity to. there are some stories that i think i remember, because i've heard them sooo sooo many times. but i really don't.
the other thing is - my parents do remember. they remember the entire nine months i was in the womb, they remember my first blink, word, steps, day of school, haircut, bike ride, bike wreck, and so many other things that i have no idea about. i mean, i assume i took a first step, because now i can walk! but i don't remember it.
i got to thinking about how this whole growing up thing is affecting my parents. i think i've been pretty selfish thus far, only focusing on what makes it hard for me, why it sucks for me, and the fact that i can't find a balance where everyone is happy and comfortable.
i think about how hard it was to drive away from matt and heather last week. knowing that, no matter how much people told me it wasn't that much different from this past semester with heather in Nashville, that it really was. that it's the beginning of a stage in their lives that is just so different from what i'm experiencing that it might be difficult to keep up with them.
and i've only known them for two and a half years.
my parents have known me for so much longer than that. we've been through so much more together than could possibly be squeezed into two and a half years.
i don't know. maybe this is a perspective check for me. when i told my dad about Thailand, he went and found it on the globe. when my mom got the phone back, i commented on my dad's immediate travels to the living room to find out exactly where i was thinking about going. she said something like "oh, yeah, that's just what he does. well, i better put Chip (our cat) in the basement so i can open the bedroom door so it can start warming up." immediate transition. denial? it seems like they don't want to talk about it for real.
i just don't know.
this growing up thing isn't so easy after all. for me, but even more so, i think, for my parents.
peace
// posted by erinlizabeth @ 11:28 PM 
