Glory

I'm a little tipsy after having spent a lovely evening with my wife.

But this warrants a posting.

Glory, man, seriously.

Not only is Johan never going back to Kindercare but instead will spend Mondays with his dear Red Wine Grandma, but my dissatisfaction has caused a friend from law school to re-think sending her little baby girl to that wretched place.

One song, glory.

If I was a "good" person, I would be happy just knowing that Johan isn't going back. And, I am. But I have to say that I also feel a sense of satisfaction that they are losing another potential client/student over this, and it gives me some fodder for my strongly worded letter yet to be penned.

Glory, man. One song, glory. One last refrain: I totally love winning.

The Latest in Johan

1) Eduardo has vetoed finding a caregiver for our son on craiglist. Fine. We have a couple of leads with people we sort of know (like sisters of friends, etc.) How this will play out remains to be seen.

2) Johan is now almost a master of independent sitting and is working on scooting. Our hardwood floors are conducive to moving quickly with just a few pushes of the hands, and he's getting good. He can only go backwards though. My dad asked if that means he's going to vote for Hillary. Damn. That's harsh, Dad.

3) Johan doesn't like to sleep on Wednesday nights. I've started keeping track and for the past 4 weeks, he wakes up in the middle of the night only on Wednesdays and wants to play. Little weirdo.

4) Tomorrow is Johan's 1st flight. Wheeeeeeee!

Overreacting?

I'm looking for some feedback here because, when it comes to Johan, I think I don't have a lot of objectivity. Here's the situation: yesterday my mom picked Johan up from his daycare center where he goes 3-4 times per month. I don't want to defame it but it rhymes with Linderlare. When she arrived, Johan was swaddled in a blanket laying in a crib, wide awake. These are the problems: It is common knowledge among parents and anyone involved with babies that swaddling is not recommended past a month or 6 weeks old. Johan needs to have his arms and legs free to move. He doesn't even like being dressed in clothes, let alone bound up in a blanket. Also, I pay a lot of money for him to go there, under the auspices that he is being cared for, not left in a crib while awake.

What had got me even angrier is the director's response when I called to discuss my concerns. I remained level headed, using an indoor voice, and other that mentioning that it sounded "a little Romanian orphanage," I totally kept my cool. Yet, instead of trying to actually address my concerns, the director was full of excuses: "He wasn't swaddled that tightly;" "The regular head teacher in the baby room wasn't there today;" "He wasn't crying."

Well, jeesh. The tightness of the swaddling is not the effing point. The point is swaddling at all is not appropriate for 6-month-old babies. Regarding the head teacher, shouldn't all of the staff know policies regarding wrapping up babies so that they can't use their arms? Finally, Johan often doesn't cry when he wakes up, but I don't think that makes it okay to just let him lay around in a crib all day.

So, am I overreacting? I understand that daycare providers are paid really shittily, and I am sensitive to the problem of the parent-that-bitches-about-everything since I worked in a Montessori school for many years. Yet, this situation has got me really bothered--both what they did and how they responded to my concerns.

I have reached out on facebook and craiglist to find alternate care for Johan a couple Mondays a month. We're going to California on Friday, so for at least the next 2 weeks, Johan's arms and legs will be to kick, grab, and flail all he wants.

Just in case anyone had doubts about how cute this baby is...

6 months (minus 3 days)

We are still working on posting the picture with Keith Ellison. The delay is related to the fact that the picture is not on my camera. For now, these will have to do:

INFJ

Ok, so I just took a new Myers Briggs test. I am an INFJ -- Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging. I think I have always been FJ, but I was right that I am now an "I."

Breaking it down, I'm very strong I, N, and J, but a weak F. On Myers Briggs, Feeling is juxtaposed with Thinking. So I guess it's ok to be weak on F since it must mean I spend some time thinking, as well.

Myers Briggs

I've taken the Myers Briggs test several times in my life. When I was a kid and a *youth*, I was a strong "E" for extrovert. I was never shy and always loud, so that made sense. I used to think that introverted meant shy and quiet. At some point in my life, someone told me that introverted doesn't really mean shy and quiet. Rather, an introvert is someone who gets their strength and energy from solitude and calm, and an extrovert as someone who is energized by being in groups and with others.

I like those definitions and I think I used to be an extrovert. For several years, though, I have been suspecting that I was morphing into an "I" for introvert. Not shy; not quiet, but someone who needs solitude and quiet to become energized. Today I am sure.

My first Mother's Day was nice but very busy and loud, with several family functions and a lot of running around. By 3:00, I felt totally beat. Like, I could barely keep my eyes open or drag my tired self from the car to the house. But the moment sat down on my couch with a lemonade and a book, I suddenly wasn't tired anymore. The quiet, the solace, and the sun slanting down through the trees and into my living room all gave me energy. I have, therefore, re-classified myself as an introvert.

I bet, however, that if I re-took Myers Briggs, I would still be "judging", rather than "perceiving." Some things never change.