Daniel is in the habit of saying “Is that bad?” or alternatively “Is that good?” when Mom or Dad say something. I think it is his way of learning values and developing his own bullshit barometer.
“Oh look at the sky . . . red sky in morn, sailors be warned.”
“Is that bad?” he’ll ask.
Sometimes I just say, “It just is” and then I’ll explain because not everything is bad or good, black or white.
Like this job for instance. There are things I hate and things I like but I digress . . .
Toto attacked Buster a few weeks ago and Daniel asked, “Is that bad?” Yes, it’s bad because now he bites people and dogs, I helpfully explained. The attacks are all about establishing dominance and usually involve food, so (knock on wood) I think the attacks are subsiding.
“Gingivitis”
“Is that bad?”
“Yes, it is. It’s gum disease.”
Bruises and bit marks from getting in the middle of a dominance, dog attack.
“Is that bad?”
“Yes it is.”
“Is it good to be the smallest state?”
I think so, because it makes us unique.
“Are worms (in dogs) bad?”
“Yes, they are.”
“What are carbohydrates? Are they bad?”
“If you eat too much of them, they are. You gotta have some fruits and veggies."
You get the idea. The bad and good continues and perhaps I should mix it up a little and when he asks me if something is bad, I’ll be really sarcastic and say it is good and then after he kind of looks confused and smiles I’ll say “Is that bad?”
Unrelated thoughts
- I inadvertently scammed the drive thru woman out of a muffin when she handed me my tea and change. “What ?” she wondered. “My muffin?” I wondered back. She scurried around clearly annoyed and put a muffin in a bag herself. This clearly was not part of the Dunkin Donuts system. As I drove off, I noticed two muffins on the seat beside me. And the thing is that I didn’t even remember her handing me the first muffin.
- On the holiday party front, my mother doesn’t ask people to bring anything to her parties because all anyone brings is dip and then all you have is lots of dip to throw away.
Addendum to why I might start smoking column:
- I can forget about the $1.4 million I need to accumulate to live at 85% of my current income in retirement – because I will die sooner.
- I can meet new people as I smoke outside restaurants and other establishments.
