Mastering the self

What can you really do when options involving working, eating and drinking are completely eliminated? Pray, supposedly, if it is Yom Kippur. But I went with the more pressing concern of watching the children.

I watched Baby M quietly making her way around the house with decisiveness and determination. I watched her crawling over to the table, pulling herself up to standing, banging things on said table then clumsily negotiating her way back down to the floor. I watched her bravely going for Son’s construction vehicles and train tracks time and time again, undeterred by the good push likely to be inflicted upon her when such violations occur.

Son is amazing to watch too, getting completely involved in the stories he creates around his trains. Only more absorbing for him at the moment are the stories other children create with their trains and post up on YouTube, which he'd watch all day if we'd only let him.

At one point, after watching a series of home-made videos called Accidents Happen where Thomas and his friends collide with one another non-stop for 3 minutes, Son raced over to his train set to get some accidents of his own going. And accidents happened indeed- the sweet boy forgot that, because he was wearing ‘underwear’, he needed to tell me when he had a wee on board. It took the sudden appearance of a darker shade of carpet to alert me that Son didn't quite manage to schedule the potty-stop. We're working on it!

I guess self-control is a great leveler, posing a new challenge for every season. No sooner have you worked out how to stand than you have to learn not to pee in your pants and before you know it, it’s no food for 25 hours and then the pee thing rolls around again.























PS- I had no voice the day of the fast and had to speak in whispers; quite significant on a day of repentance for sins committed in speech and action throughout the year past, don't ya think? Wonder what it meeeaans...