When I was a little boy, the little girls were crazy about Baby Thumbelina.
Baby Thumbelina was this ugly little doll with a permanently scrunched up face that looked like she wanted to cry. A face only a Mother could love.
(Before we go any further, I want you to know I wasn't one of those gay boys that wanted a doll for Christmas.)
But then poor Thumbelina got tossed aside for Chatty Cathy.
(Really, I didn't prefer dolls to trucks.)
Thumbelina and Chatty Cathy came to mind this morning because lately I've been posting like crazy so I've been a real Chatty Cathy.
Then I thought it's always cyclical with me. One day I'm a Chatty Cathy, the next day I'm well a Thumbelina.
And there's a certain pattern. When problems are manageable, I'm a Chatty Cathy. When everything is going to hell, I'm a Thumbelina. So silence from me is like a big flashing sign reading "Danger" "Danger".
I have often wondered why when I have a problem that I have to talk it out with others before the problem becomes real and I can sort it out.
My wife is not like that. She is never a Chatty Cathy. And never a Thumbelina either.
She is more like the men in "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". When she has a problem, she goes into her cave. So I guess that means I must be from Venus.
(OK, maybe I'm not the most masculine guy in the world.)
So I asked my daughter "Why, why, why?" over omelets and gravy at First Watch this morning.
Actually what I said was why do I have to say it out loud before the problem becomes real.
Without missing a beat, she said because when you say it out loud you can feel the emotion that goes with it.
How did she get so smart?
She's right. I don't know how others process problems but thoughts just swirl in my mind and get all intertwined but it never occurred to me to wonder where the emotions were. But, now that my daughter said what she said, I think the emotions must also be swirling around and getting so intertwined I can't sort them out and that's what the static is that I sense and why it increases or decreases depending on how serious my problems are.
So maybe I have to talk my problems out because that allows me to separate one thought from the rest and then the corresponding emotion just comes right along with it. And finally matching the thought to the emotion must be why for the first time the problem becomes real.
Who would have thought it was that simple.
By the way, emotionally my daughter is more like me and my son more like my wife.
So at least our children conform to the gender stereotypes.
Regards,
Philip
Baby Thumbelina was this ugly little doll with a permanently scrunched up face that looked like she wanted to cry. A face only a Mother could love.
(Before we go any further, I want you to know I wasn't one of those gay boys that wanted a doll for Christmas.)
But then poor Thumbelina got tossed aside for Chatty Cathy.
(Really, I didn't prefer dolls to trucks.)
Thumbelina and Chatty Cathy came to mind this morning because lately I've been posting like crazy so I've been a real Chatty Cathy.
Then I thought it's always cyclical with me. One day I'm a Chatty Cathy, the next day I'm well a Thumbelina.
And there's a certain pattern. When problems are manageable, I'm a Chatty Cathy. When everything is going to hell, I'm a Thumbelina. So silence from me is like a big flashing sign reading "Danger" "Danger".
I have often wondered why when I have a problem that I have to talk it out with others before the problem becomes real and I can sort it out.
My wife is not like that. She is never a Chatty Cathy. And never a Thumbelina either.
She is more like the men in "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". When she has a problem, she goes into her cave. So I guess that means I must be from Venus.
(OK, maybe I'm not the most masculine guy in the world.)
So I asked my daughter "Why, why, why?" over omelets and gravy at First Watch this morning.
Actually what I said was why do I have to say it out loud before the problem becomes real.
Without missing a beat, she said because when you say it out loud you can feel the emotion that goes with it.
How did she get so smart?
She's right. I don't know how others process problems but thoughts just swirl in my mind and get all intertwined but it never occurred to me to wonder where the emotions were. But, now that my daughter said what she said, I think the emotions must also be swirling around and getting so intertwined I can't sort them out and that's what the static is that I sense and why it increases or decreases depending on how serious my problems are.
So maybe I have to talk my problems out because that allows me to separate one thought from the rest and then the corresponding emotion just comes right along with it. And finally matching the thought to the emotion must be why for the first time the problem becomes real.
Who would have thought it was that simple.
By the way, emotionally my daughter is more like me and my son more like my wife.
So at least our children conform to the gender stereotypes.
Regards,
Philip
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