family

A most interesting mirror

/ christinaparisi / Leave a comment

can be in the form of a wildly precocious three-year old nephew.

Last weekend, this young boy no taller than my mid-thigh, spent three full days and nights living with myself and my parents (his grandparents) and I think I may have learned more about myself in those three days than perhaps I had in quite a while. I was also shuffling some other things around in my mind so perhaps it was fate that this weekend occurred or maybe I just paid more attention than usual, but regardless, I had the most fascinating weekend.

You just never know.

Rather than bore you with extended details of the entire seventy-two hours, many of which I was nowhere near my nephew, I thought I’d just write, in the form of a script, a few of the reflections I saw in this mysterious and honest mirror.

SCRIPT

At a modern family home in Los Angeles, a NEPHEW (3) and his AUNT (35) hang out and chat on various occasions over a three-day period…

Nephew: Are you going out tonight?
Aunt: Yeah.
Nephew: Why?
Aunt: I’m hanging out with my boyfriend.
Nephew: Just tell me, are you going to a bar?

Nephew: Let’s play Auntie.
Aunt: Hang on, I’m finishing up something on my computer.
Nephew: I want to play.
Aunt: Hold on, I’ll be done soon.
Nephew: You’re on your computer a lot.

Nephew: Your office is kinda dirty.
Aunt: Well… I haven’t vacuumed it in a while.
Nephew: I’ll do it.

Aunt: I’m a little sad right now.
Nephew: Why Auntie?
Aunt: Just not feeling very pretty right now.
Nephew: You’re pretty in your sparkly shirt. But not this shirt.

Nephew: Get up!
Aunt: I’m still sleeping.
Nephew: Why do you want to sleep more?
Aunt: I like to sleep.

Nephew: Why can’t I say bad words?
Aunt: Because they are disrespectful.
Nephew: But everyone says bad words.
Aunt: Uh…

Aunt: Here sweetie, I made you eggs and bacon.
Nephew: Why are these scrambled eggs brown?
Aunt: They’re burned a bit.
Nephew: Oh.
Aunt: I’m not great at making eggs.

And one for the road, taken directly from being on the road…

Nephew: Wow, outside is going by quick.
Aunt: Oh. Oops. Auntie sometimes drives too fast.

celebration

/ christinaparisi / 2 Comments

This weekend I went to a bridal shower. Now, I hope I won’t be hurting anyone’s feelings when I say I normally hate these things because all those who know me should know traditional events, such as this particular societal ritual, are not normally my cup of tea.

That said, I went to a shower for one of my closest friends this weekend and I admit, I had a wonderful time. So this got me thinking… why was this one any different from the others I’ve been to? (And granted I haven’t really been to that many because many of those who are in my social circle are a lot like me and not to mention, my relatives live in another state…)

But then it dawned on me, it was because we were able to actually be ourselves, our true selves, and be there to celebrate the bride, whom we all know and love, and have a good time. There wasn’t any of that typical PC crap. We could actually say what we felt and celebrate the girl we love without having to be fake. Everyone there seemed to truly want to be there and it was just a good time all around.

Yes, the bride is a dear friend of mine but it was the honesty, the acceptance, the love, the warmth, the family, the celebration and the respect that made this day fun. So many times, these societal traditions tend to be a pain for all those involved, tend to be loaded with gossip and bullshit, tend to be more stressful than not and tend to be something done out of obligation rather than desire. But I didn’t feel that way this time and it seemed all those who attended didn’t either.

Now that is a true celebration.