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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Gravity

Selma Fraiberg wrote a lovely book called The Magic Years, which I re-read passages of frequently because A) she offers zero advice, and B) she has a marvelous way of making babies sound like lovely little people exploring the world in magical ways instead of the demonic, dictatorial little squirts that they are.  Her beautiful description of you, and other right bastards your age, as pocket-sized scientists who are testing the world out in a long and exhaustive series of experiments, has saved you more than once from Mean Mommy and Cranky Mommy (the one who sighs a lot).  Because we all know Mr Baby, that I like to see sound implementation of the scientific method.

However.  While there is value in the reproducibility of an experiment, and I like that you are dotting your t's and crossing your i's, I would like to know: just how many fucking more times, Mr. Baby, are you going to drop your motherloving spoons and sippy cup on the floor before you get around to publishing the results to the rest of your brain?  They fall. They all fall.  They always fall. 

And so this is the thing.  As they say, not much is certain in this life but death (too morbid for your tender young age) and taxes (later, my child, later.  And......ssssorry for moving to Canada.)  But it wouldn't hurt to add, because unless you're a super-dork physicist or an astronaut, it's true: ''and gravity.''  Death and taxes and gravity, kid, that's what life is about.  Gravity is a certainty that we can all count on.  You drop things, they fall.  If you happen to have a preposterous sense of balance and let go of things, you fall.  What goes up must come down, and don't shoot guns into the air even if it's a Mexican holiday, etc. etc..  Even Fred knows it, and he is a dog.  That's why he, and his ears and his tail and his penis, are nowhere to be found all day, but he materializes under your highchair with a renewed interest in all things baby.  Because he understands gravity.  And that snacks are on the way because of it.

You're being really rigorous in your testing of your hypothesis (spoons fall).  And I admire that, I really do.  But I'll just come out an say this: it's getting fucking annoying.  Also, you're not on the trail of any big groundbreaking theorem here.  So, my sweet little pea, gravity is there and it works like this: stuff falls.  Down.  Now please stop, for the love of all that is holy in this world, dropping your goddam spoons on the floor.    

And P.S.: Gravity also applies to things like you, your sippy cup, your head, and...oh yeah I mentioned that already.  EVERYTHING.  Okay?  Okay.