Perceptions

The other morning my kids were playing “house” – directed, of course, by Miss J. The boys wanted to be puppies as usual, but she would not have it, and finally she convinced them to play their respective Daddy and kid roles. Then came the “laptop” battle. We have a little pretend computer with some games on it – which is never actually used – but has become a favored prop. Mr. T (the Dad) went to get the “laptop” so that he could do his work. Miss J argued that she (the Mom) needed the laptop. Mr. T told her she didn’t work, so she didn’t need it. She replied, “Yes I do work, and yes I do need it. In fact I work harder than you do, so I get to use it first.” The worried father then asked what would happen to their kid if they were both working. Miss J nonchalantly said, “I guess he’ll just have to go to daycare.” They both agreed, and took turns on the “laptop” while Little E was forced to tend for himself.

Yesterday Mr. T was trying to make sense of some scriptural genealogy. So and so was his father and thus so and so’s grandfather… he was actually doing quite well. Then came the missing piece: “how could King Benjamin (from The Book of Mormon) have a son, King Mosiah, and then a grandson, Ammon and there were no Mom’s to have all the babies? Did the Dad’s have babies back then? Does Ammon have a Mom?” The questions hit our peaceful dinner table like bullets. Mr. Man tried to answer each one, as did I… and mostly we acknowledged that there must have in fact been many wonderful mothers that just aren’t written of in the scriptures. He took it all in and then concluded that “I guess they were just too busy.” We had to laugh.

Miss J, on the other hand, has been convinced as of late that being a parent must be the ideal. Nobody to tell you what to do, no homework, no chores (yeah right!) and so on. Her latest comment, “I can’t wait till I’m a Mom and I can do whatever I want with my time and even go on a diet if I want to!” (This stems from me sneaking chocolate or root beer – my two vices – not sharing, and telling her it’s my special diet!)

So apparently my role as mother is either a) completely dispensable b) too busy or c) the ideal dream life. Cast your vote now… apparently perception plays a large role in how we see a person, and also, political candidates.