One of the big, esoteric, brain hurting questions that your mother posed to me late one night in the not too distant past, pumpkin, was this:
“How will pumpkin know to love us?”
Of course, being the kind of husband who can be relied upon to have an answer for just about any question, punkin, I told her what I thought. Because, I said, in what I hope was a fairly authoritative voice, of hearing our voices for the last nine months.
On further reflection, however, this answer raises more problems than it solves. If you’ve really been listening to us for the last nine months, I mean REALLY listening, then there’s a few things I’m going to have to explain to you.
If you’re wondering why we say ‘bedtime!’ about 50 times a day, there are two primary reasons. One is that your mother and I are HUGE fans of bedtime. Really, you will not find two people in this world who are more fond of going to bed than me and your mum. Snuggling up under the doona and pretending that we have no responsibilities is a hugely fun game when you’re an adult, a fact which I’m sure you’ll discover. The issue with this is, of course, that everything you neglected to do when you made the decision to scuttle off under the blankets is STILL THERE when you finally emerge, in its original state, although, depending on the time that you’ve hidden for, probably stinkier.
The other reason we say ‘bedtime’ is because our two wonderful puppies are hugely fond of being close to us. This can be problematic, particularly as they both weigh over 30 kilograms and shed quite a lot of doggy hair. We tell them, when we are eating, when we are watching TV or when they are just pacing up and down or standing by the back door, that it’s their bedtime. Often quite loudly and gruffly. Sometimes they even listen to us.
Righto, so that’s the bedtime thing covered. I wonder what else you’re hearing in there. I wonder if we should stop watching movies where people shout a lot. I wonder if you like the music we play. One of the people at the prenatal classes was saying that there were several babies that she had heard of who quieted down when the Neighbours theme came on because they had heard it in the womb. Are you going to calm down and go to sleep when Top Model or Angel comes on?
Love you.
1 comment:
Well, I can speak with authority about this possum. You will know to love your parents because you will be shown love. You will be cared for and cherished, even at 3 am when your parents are saying 'bedtime' firmly, even when you have grown up enough to argue (and that will only take about two years), even when you take up playing classical music and wearing very conservative clothes (how else to rebel?), you will still be cherished and loved. And you will know how to love in return.
From your Grammy Linda, who will love you no matter what sort of music you listen to.
Post a Comment