Labels: Just Me, psycho babble
Thursday, March 15, 2007
I believe that I am coming down with a serious case of senioritis...except it isn't called senioritis because I'm not really a senior. I'm a "been in school consecutively since kindergarten" thing/person. But you all remember the last few weeks of senior year in high school. You know where we ditched classes to go out to eat or go tanning or for ice cream. Where we started to slack on homework and show up late for seminary (oh wait that was pretty much every month of every year!) Anyways it's happening to me again. I am so done with school. I put together an entire PowerPoint presentation together last night and I didn't even practice it before presenting to my class! Why? Because I don't care anymore. Then today I assisted in talking a friend into ditching class to go have appeteasers (for those of you who watch The Office.) I received a fall class schedule in my email, and I erased it. Because I won't be in school this fall. I'm a senior again! I know that I'm going to graduate, I know that my grades don't matter, and I'm beginning to realize that I'm simply checking out of student mode. Which is about time! I've finally come to the realization that I don't want to be a professional student, much to Caleb's relief, as being a professional student is very expensive and time consuming. This is a new feeling for me, and I'm feeling very liberated. The "inner child" in me is chanting no more pencils, no more books....
posted by Michele at 5:32 PM
Monday, January 29, 2007
I like Caleb's hair long. This last summer he cut it, without telling me, and I was so disappointed. I was constantly teasing him about his short hair. Now he has, very passively, been growing it out. It now resembles a mop/animal....
And all he can do is mimic me and say "but you like my hair long..."
I admire his perseverance.
And all he can do is mimic me and say "but you like my hair long..."
I admire his perseverance.
Labels: psycho babble, The Fam
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Micaela at 7 months...just a baby!
So just recently Caleb has made a discovery. He has now decided that he wants to have another baby. In the next twelve months. With an average 40 week pregnancy that would suggest I need to get pregnant this month or next month. I told him there is absolutely no way this is going to occur. My favorite response is when I tell people (like my grandma,) they get all excited, like just because Caleb wants a baby means we must be having a baby. Whenever someone compliments us on Micaela's looks or easy-going temperament, Caleb takes all the credit because "he supplied the ingredients and I was merely the oven (no joke he says this) that she baked in." Well let me say this oven is not ready to turn on again.
For those of you who know Caleb, including myself, this may come as a surprise, because another of his famous sayings is "we can't afford the baby we have." But I, with my budding therapeutic mind, have discovered the reason for his sudden change of heart. Ok so not only does he want a baby, but he really wants a boy. It is important to note that we recently watched a movie which portrayed a very strong relationship between the main character and his father, and then the main character and with his own son. These movies (like Real Big Fish) really remind Caleb that he doesn't have a father, and therefore lacks the father-son relationship. My thought is that it would be therapeutically beneficial for Caleb to have a son, which would enable him to experience the father-son relationship. I also know that many men (and women) who have horrible parents are reluctant, yet desirous to have children because they yearn for that healthy child-parent bond and the opportunity to prove to themselves that they can be good parents, regardless of their upbringing.
When I approached Caleb with this idea he said " well I really just want a boy I can play sports with..." I told this to my mother, in all her infinite wisdom and someone who as time passes truly shows that she "gets me." She responded with "exactly what you said."
P.S. I still hope that our next baby is a girl...look at how cute they are!
Labels: psycho babble, The Fam
Friday, December 29, 2006
I remember studying Freud as an undergrad psych major and being thouroughly disgusted. What sick man believes that psychopatholgy stems from incestous sexual desires? Unfortunately the more I work in the mental health field the more I begin to believe that Freud was on to something... (Quick disclaimer to feminist friends, I also believe that Freud was a product of an era which, at best, devalued women and their emotional/physical/sexual needs.)
I am now officially releasing Freud from that section in my mind labeled "looney." Yes folks that's a clinical term. Why is such drastic action being taken? Well I am now a firm believer of the Electra Complex.
A little background...Freud believed that all young boys fall in love with their mothers and therefore, want to kill their fathers, the "oedipus complex" named after Oedipus Rex. It is then that our young boys begin to worry that their plan will enrage their fathers (you think?), who will then castrate them. To Freud, and many males, this is a punishment worse than death. So the young boys, in a desperate attempt to save their penises, abandon their mother-stealing, and resort to becoming exactly like their fathers. In later years, when Freud was forced to examine women (AKA "degenerates"), he developed a similar conflict between young girls and their fathers, eventually called "the electra complex," named after Agememnon's daughter Electra. This results when a daughter wants her mother out of the picture, because she wants her father all to herself. Freud couldn't resist adding "penis envy" to the picture, but I refuse to spend any more time on that topic.
What does this all mean to me? Lately I've been home more, spending more time with both Micaela and Caleb. In the past few days I've noticed some changes in our household...
1. Micaela begins every sentence with "dada..." and now refuses to say mama
2. When we leave the house, and Caleb is at work, Micaela will call up the stairs "bye dada" even though he isn't there
3. In the morning when she's in our room and we're laying in bed, she wants to lay by him and preferably between us
4. She gets mad when I hug/kiss him and immediately runs over and wants to be held by him
I have a few friends with older children who all remember a brief period of time when their young daughters showed a particular liking towards their father, and a somwhat jealous reaction towards their mother. While I'm positive Freud isn't completely right, I must admit that there does exist a mild version of the electra complex. Lately I've resorted to calling Micaela "electra."
I am now officially releasing Freud from that section in my mind labeled "looney." Yes folks that's a clinical term. Why is such drastic action being taken? Well I am now a firm believer of the Electra Complex.
A little background...Freud believed that all young boys fall in love with their mothers and therefore, want to kill their fathers, the "oedipus complex" named after Oedipus Rex. It is then that our young boys begin to worry that their plan will enrage their fathers (you think?), who will then castrate them. To Freud, and many males, this is a punishment worse than death. So the young boys, in a desperate attempt to save their penises, abandon their mother-stealing, and resort to becoming exactly like their fathers. In later years, when Freud was forced to examine women (AKA "degenerates"), he developed a similar conflict between young girls and their fathers, eventually called "the electra complex," named after Agememnon's daughter Electra. This results when a daughter wants her mother out of the picture, because she wants her father all to herself. Freud couldn't resist adding "penis envy" to the picture, but I refuse to spend any more time on that topic.
What does this all mean to me? Lately I've been home more, spending more time with both Micaela and Caleb. In the past few days I've noticed some changes in our household...
1. Micaela begins every sentence with "dada..." and now refuses to say mama
2. When we leave the house, and Caleb is at work, Micaela will call up the stairs "bye dada" even though he isn't there
3. In the morning when she's in our room and we're laying in bed, she wants to lay by him and preferably between us
4. She gets mad when I hug/kiss him and immediately runs over and wants to be held by him
I have a few friends with older children who all remember a brief period of time when their young daughters showed a particular liking towards their father, and a somwhat jealous reaction towards their mother. While I'm positive Freud isn't completely right, I must admit that there does exist a mild version of the electra complex. Lately I've resorted to calling Micaela "electra."
Labels: psycho babble