First of all, happy belated Canada day to all my compatriots! We spent a lovely day at various coffee shops, reading and soaking in the sun. All in all, bliss.
Yesterday evening we decided to watch a brainless movie we own, The Change Up. It's one of Disney-style switcheroo movies, with decidedly more adult themes. Two friends -- a hard-working lawyer family man and a chronically juvenile, mostly out-of-work actor -- complain one night about how they'd love to switch lives. They do this as they're peeing into a fountain, and, through the magic of the movie gods, they end up in each other's bodies the next day. Shenanigans ensue. Deep stuff.
Anyway, we saw the movie when we bought it a couple of months ago, and it was good fun then, but watching it this time had a whole different feel to it. That's because when we watched it before, we had no idea we were going to be parents. Suddenly all the scenes of screaming children, exhausted parents, and flying baby excrement felt a little more imminent. The movie was still sufficiently brainless for our needs, but I have to say, being a parent looks... challenging.
This has got to be one of the most interesting parts about becoming a parent. Suddenly all of the stuff that you've seen a million times before stops looking so cliche and starts carrying all this weight. It's like this secret code that you're surrounded with but have suddenly started to understand. I do find it annoying when people try to fit everyone into the exact same box (read my post on the What to Expect movie), but at the same time, it's kind of neat that there's this huge cultural reservoir of knowledge just waiting to become useful.
I guess that this is one of the functions of movies in general -- to give people something to identify with -- but until now, this particular parent identification has been off limits for me. You gotta love when a whole new world opens up to you, though hopefully we'll find some way to flying poo to a minimum.
On a more direct than usual note, thank you to everyone for the growing support! There's now a BDB readership in the triple digits. Please think about tweeting the occasional post or two if you like them, and don't go changing (well, unless it's diapers, I suppose).
Yesterday evening we decided to watch a brainless movie we own, The Change Up. It's one of Disney-style switcheroo movies, with decidedly more adult themes. Two friends -- a hard-working lawyer family man and a chronically juvenile, mostly out-of-work actor -- complain one night about how they'd love to switch lives. They do this as they're peeing into a fountain, and, through the magic of the movie gods, they end up in each other's bodies the next day. Shenanigans ensue. Deep stuff.
Anyway, we saw the movie when we bought it a couple of months ago, and it was good fun then, but watching it this time had a whole different feel to it. That's because when we watched it before, we had no idea we were going to be parents. Suddenly all the scenes of screaming children, exhausted parents, and flying baby excrement felt a little more imminent. The movie was still sufficiently brainless for our needs, but I have to say, being a parent looks... challenging.
This has got to be one of the most interesting parts about becoming a parent. Suddenly all of the stuff that you've seen a million times before stops looking so cliche and starts carrying all this weight. It's like this secret code that you're surrounded with but have suddenly started to understand. I do find it annoying when people try to fit everyone into the exact same box (read my post on the What to Expect movie), but at the same time, it's kind of neat that there's this huge cultural reservoir of knowledge just waiting to become useful.
I guess that this is one of the functions of movies in general -- to give people something to identify with -- but until now, this particular parent identification has been off limits for me. You gotta love when a whole new world opens up to you, though hopefully we'll find some way to flying poo to a minimum.
On a more direct than usual note, thank you to everyone for the growing support! There's now a BDB readership in the triple digits. Please think about tweeting the occasional post or two if you like them, and don't go changing (well, unless it's diapers, I suppose).
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