toddler as tabla rasa

spider, originally uploaded by jandjgilbert.

I was reading Dooce's 27-month letter to her daugher and comparing her happy happy sentiments to my recently more dour tone. I am confident that David is every bit as charming as Leta and that, conversly, Leta is just as much a pain as David. The difference? The parents, obviously. Toddlers are generally a pretty good mix of wonder and disaster, so we parents have the option of focussing on one aspect or another. All who have read Dooce are very aware of her ongoing battle with depression an the struggle to balance her family, her life and her medication to stay on top. Readers of "david jaime jason" don't get quite so much candid discussion of personal struggle because I am way too lazy to write as much as Ms. Armstrong. Also, I am generally a happy guy, so it would be pretty dull reading.

So why am I currently projecting so much misery on the little guy? Well, things are a little stressfull around chez Simmons/Gilbert right now as we go through a major life change of Jaime graduating and becoming employed, us moving, and then birthing a baby. The next six months represent a crossroads for me personally as full time employment for Jaime gives me the freedom to really figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don't particularly like my job and don't and want do be gone nine hours a day for the rest of my childeren's lives. So I am working through options. Plus, well there is other stuff that Dooce might get into, but that I will not, which distinguishes this blog, with its dozen-or-so visitors a day, from hers, with about 48,000 visitors a day.

All of that being said, I will try to be a bit more chipper about the boy from now on. Here is a picture of him smiling about a giant spider that has landed on his head, for starts.

later happy happy fans.