Something happened when you wrote in detail about your son, it was, for me, like discovering a part of your writing/mind that I didn't know existed (though I've seen you mention the themes before; it was the texture that changed somehow). It was very real. Thank you.
That was one of the things I noticed during my first read-through, but didn't fully comprehend/have language for until the second read.
He does a beautiful parallel between tendencies he's noticed in himself and things that it "seems" his son has "some idea" of at a young age. Very powerful piece!
"how surely we adults just do more complicated versions of the same thing, internalizing other people’s criticisms and disapproval, without necessarily really understanding them." freud would say that of course this is the superego and indeed we do not understand its criticisms nor its dictats; Lacan would probably add that manifesting any form of confusion about the superego's aims is a form of neuroticism, which shows that unlike our popular conception of it, it's actually neuroticism that allows the most freedom from compulsion
My 3-year-old can express his sense of wonder and delight with language in more detail than he could at younger ages.
He has been putting together complete sentences for a few months.
Recently, he said "My tummy needs a band-aid."
A few minutes later, he threw up.
The vomit mostly consisted of cheese. I think what happened is that he was enthusiastic about using the cheese slicer and ate too much.
As I was cleaning the vomit from the floor, he asked "What happened?"
I matter-of-factly explained that the food came from his stomach, up his esophagus through his neck, then up out of his mouth. This process is called vomiting. The mess on the floor is called vomit.
The expression of awe and wonder on his face as he said, "It came up OUT of my MOUTH!!!" surprised me. It was priceless.
He repeated that several times, radiating delight.
I think his tummy felt better immediately after throwing up.
Later, he tested out using some of the other words I had said, like "esophagus."
I think novelty is definitely a factor. There are things he encounters for the first time. He has thrown up before, but it has been a while, and this was the first time he was capable of asking about it. "What happened?" is a phrase getting a lot of use these days
This is part of parenting a 3-year-old: finding a sense of wonder and delight in unexpected mundane things it wouldn't occur to me to feel that way about, until he shows me. Like the process of vomiting.
It is like we are the whole tree and its branches at the same time, sometimes we become one branch exclusively sometimes multiple sometimes none, parts, compulsions, I understand what you are gesturing at! I am looking forward to when you put it into words
Something happened when you wrote in detail about your son, it was, for me, like discovering a part of your writing/mind that I didn't know existed (though I've seen you mention the themes before; it was the texture that changed somehow). It was very real. Thank you.
That’s so interesting to hear! Thx
That was one of the things I noticed during my first read-through, but didn't fully comprehend/have language for until the second read.
He does a beautiful parallel between tendencies he's noticed in himself and things that it "seems" his son has "some idea" of at a young age. Very powerful piece!
"how surely we adults just do more complicated versions of the same thing, internalizing other people’s criticisms and disapproval, without necessarily really understanding them." freud would say that of course this is the superego and indeed we do not understand its criticisms nor its dictats; Lacan would probably add that manifesting any form of confusion about the superego's aims is a form of neuroticism, which shows that unlike our popular conception of it, it's actually neuroticism that allows the most freedom from compulsion
Hm!
My 3-year-old can express his sense of wonder and delight with language in more detail than he could at younger ages.
He has been putting together complete sentences for a few months.
Recently, he said "My tummy needs a band-aid."
A few minutes later, he threw up.
The vomit mostly consisted of cheese. I think what happened is that he was enthusiastic about using the cheese slicer and ate too much.
As I was cleaning the vomit from the floor, he asked "What happened?"
I matter-of-factly explained that the food came from his stomach, up his esophagus through his neck, then up out of his mouth. This process is called vomiting. The mess on the floor is called vomit.
The expression of awe and wonder on his face as he said, "It came up OUT of my MOUTH!!!" surprised me. It was priceless.
He repeated that several times, radiating delight.
I think his tummy felt better immediately after throwing up.
Later, he tested out using some of the other words I had said, like "esophagus."
I think novelty is definitely a factor. There are things he encounters for the first time. He has thrown up before, but it has been a while, and this was the first time he was capable of asking about it. "What happened?" is a phrase getting a lot of use these days
This is part of parenting a 3-year-old: finding a sense of wonder and delight in unexpected mundane things it wouldn't occur to me to feel that way about, until he shows me. Like the process of vomiting.
It is like we are the whole tree and its branches at the same time, sometimes we become one branch exclusively sometimes multiple sometimes none, parts, compulsions, I understand what you are gesturing at! I am looking forward to when you put it into words
The bit about language and words etc. from your son reminds me of this TED talk and accompanying stuff:
- https://www.ted.com/talks/deb_roy_the_birth_of_a_word
- https://www.media.mit.edu/cogmac/projects/hsp.html