I both love and hate instructions. If they're too long--say ones that come with putting a piece of furniture together--my attention wanders and I don't follow them and then my coffee table is forever slanted. If they're too demanding or precise (to be a real yogi, you must wake up at 5 am to do yoga), I rebel and lose interest in the project. But left without instructions, I complain that I don't have enough direction to get started. Yes, maybe there's just something about instructions that is inherently ironic.
All of a sudden, a lot of my friends are having babies. Of course it makes me think if or when I'll want my own. I'm still pretty unsure, though I imagine one day I will (but I really don't want to give birth after hearing all sorts of horror stories!) . If I had to give my kids instructions on life, I would paraphrase from something Li-Young said at a poetry reading attended and blogged about by poet mom: "More than anything else," I would say, "Strive to find the recipe that makes your individual life work."
15 comments:
LOL Don, Brian put that together.
Nice post - I agree, usually there is something ironic about instructions.
Don't worry about the horror stories of the birth experience... teenage years are far more stressful to moms. lol
Thanks Autrice, I think. :) And glad it's not just me, Paris!
Labor is scary, but it's probably the easiest part! LOL. Enjoyed this post.
Good post, my dear.
I wish my kids came with instructions. *smile*
I hardly ever read the manual on anything I buy. Ikea makes these very silly pictorial instructions and I am able to follow those, generally.
I'm NEVER having kids. Cats are as close as I can handle.
Wonderful quote there from L-Young, and I can so relate to this! Am also having the should I, shouldn't I debate with myself about kids.
Here's some instruction I gave my daughter... "Don't try doing things with other people..til your sure of how you want them done,yourself."
We were talking a bout sexuality..and owning ones own.. but it could apply to so many other things as well.
I'm with you, Bug...
Thanks for all the responses. I'm glad I'm not the only one floundering around with this question (or not... commongal, I like the responsibility level that comes with having a cat too!) wendy, I love your instructions. You sound like a great mom!
Bug, I would have thought that a superior list-maker as yourself would have an unequivocal appreciation for instructions.
If you had your own babies, you wouldn't have time to knit cute things for them!
I had to read instructions on having kids.
Labor is a cake walk compared to raising them :) Instructions are definitely ironic!
Americans have turned labor and delivery into some kind of giant misery contest, and between that and our ridiculously high rates of C-section, it's may be hard to believe this, but here's my truth:
Midwife, no doctor present. No drugs whatsoever. And a fabulously profound and thrilling delivery. The pain is of course present, but it is not the point. The person making his/her way into the light is the point. I have never felt so powerful in my life. There are lots of good reasons to choose not to parent, but fear of labor & delivery shouldn't be one of them. [steps off soapbox]
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