the power of context

Sammy gets to cross a real finish line!

Sammy and I had a busy day, and I’m overstimulated. We went for a run, then did a 10min-aboutface to go to church (on our bike), then home for lunch and nap (from which I had to wake him up) then to a birthday party. We biked over to that as well. I think we were on my mountain bike three times today for all the outings.

My friend Laurie’s daughter Cate turned 4 today and had a huge party – bigger than any party I’ve ever been to! I think there were 30 or so friends of Cate’s from preschool, dance class, and her dad’s work. Then add in the siblings of all those toddlers. Sam and I don’t usually see that many kids in a month! 🙂 We had a lot of fun and Sam did a good job taking turns on all the really popular toys, like the little cars kids can ride in and steer. He also wanted to stand up in the wagon and “surf” so we compromised: he stood up but bent over and held onto the sides. Did I mention the pony rides? Yes, Laurie arranged for two ponies! Sam got to ride (he chose the bigger one, “Fire”) and really enjoyed it. Of course, he has long enjoyed “this is the way the farmer rides, the farmer rides, the farmer rides, early Sunday morning…” (with wild galloping horse motions) while astride mom’s and Pete’s laps on the many occasions they spelled us for an evening. He was ready for his ride. He even shooed me away so he could ride on his own (then he wanted me back a few steps later!). We chomped on salad and fruit, then cupcakes and ice cream cake – we didn’t care if we used a plastic knife, which was all that was left after the feeding frenzy.

After the party we biked back home to meet mom’s friends who were staying with her for a few days on either side of their cruise. It was nice to meet them. They made their dinner here so we could unwind a little and still get to see them. It took Sam an hour to get to sleep after all this. He was in his bed talking to himself, singing and chatting about the day.

How did I unwind? I finished up editing an entry for an encyclopedia of epidemiology. Then I went to bed. Just kidding! The first part is true…I did wrap up some work. Then I watched “Operation Dreamland” – got through the first half. Sometimes hard to follow, but well worth watching. I like the first-person interviews with Iraqi’s on the street. The frequent disconnects between mission and local perspective were interesting – not at all unlike the disconnects I sometimes experienced while working as a sales manager and calling on various people at my accounts. There’s my mission, then there’s their perspective. The degree to which I can put myself in their shoes and connect is directly correlated to the outcome of the call. The soldiers have a really tough job balancing mission, reality, and their own beliefs and impressions.

The picture above was taken by my cell phone during our run – Sam ran through the finish line of the Lanikai Triathlon before they took it down (the race was over). He really enjoyed drawing his starting line then saying “go” and running through, just like mommy does on our races (when he’s stuck in the stroller). He probably ran 1/2 mi through the park to get to this point. Good job, Sammy!

So it’s 11pm, I’ve brushed my teeth, and was almost about to sink into bed when I realized I meant to add a thought to this chronicle of the day. I was thinking about how important context is with respect to the documentary I was watching tonight. (By the way, yes, there probably was some bias introduced when the editing and splicing was done, but it’s not palpable as far as I can tell.) Something interesting happened today – Sammy sang something I didn’t recognize right away. He sang it again and it started to emerge. A third time and I knew exactly what he was singing – a line from a song on Springsteen’s “Seeger Sessions” – “pay me my money down”. Dave would know how to properly reference the CD (italics? underline? so if you’re reading, my prince, please comment and correct me)… We were barreling through a quiet neighborhood (Lanikai) and blasting this song while we sang. If Sam were in daycare or preschool even a portion of the day, I might have missed that subtle reference to something we’d done a week ago. Toward the end of a 6 mile training run for the 10K, I pumped that song out (mind you, I can’t sing at all). We had my little speaker set and ipod going, and we sang during that last mile. Just a few refrains, because that was all the breath I had on that hot day trying to nail those last few little hills. But it must have come back to him today and he sang it again. There’s literally no way I’d have picked that up if I hadn’t been the one sharing the original experience with him. I am so happy, and so profoundly grateful, that we decided raising him at home was our priority. I am lucky I can continue working, doing something I truly love, but the real reward is knowing there’s virtually nothing I will miss about his early years. There is nothing I don’t understand, even with his rudimentary pronunciation. There’s virtually no experience I haven’t shared with him. In fact, we’ve probably run over 1500 miles together already, and in every kind of weather imaginable from rain and hail falling sideways in 30 knot gusts to 95 degree heat with no trade winds. Ok – maybe there are some runs neither of us care to remember! But, my “policy” is that I won’t run a race unless he can do it with me. There’s no hike I will do if he can’t come and grow into doing it himself. Yes, I’m looking forward to the emancipation that school will bring, but for now I am approaching toddlerhood like many other things I do – with full immersion 🙂 Thank you for indulging me if you’re still reading. God bless…

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