Maya Strikes Again
My last few posts have been kind of depressing, haven’t they? I’m not usually a complainer (every person who knows me is scoffing at that statement right now) but I do think I need to lighten things up around here before I lose the few readers that keep coming back. So allow me to list the things that I am grateful for right now:
1. I am grateful that I had a chance to meet up with Lynn again yesterday, this time at M Cafe. She wasn’t scared off by Maya running around in circles up and down the streets of Beverly Hills after consuming half a giant piece of chocolate cake. Lynn didn’t even flinch when Maya threw up all over the bathroom floor after eating too much of the aforementioned cake. And as if that wasn’t enough Lynn brought me some of the much coveted Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea which tastes identical to a sugar cookie.
Thank you Lynn, for putting up with Maya and her shenanigans, and for the tea – you are too generous and kind. I can’t wait to meet up with you again.
2. I am grateful that Maya narrowly missed my new shoes when she threw up all over the bathroom.
3. Is it terrible that I’m grateful Maya threw up in someone else’s bathroom?
4. I am grateful that several other people, including Joanne, are willing to give up their kidney for me if I ever need one.
5. I am grateful that instead of a stuffed animal Ali finds security in having all of his technology in arms reach. Laptop? Check. iPhone? Check. iPad? Check. Wireless card? Check. Landline? Check. I believe he is fully covered in any emergency. Or in case he needs to send a text at 2 am.
Excitement is building around here for the iPhone 4G which will be released June 24, 2010. Certain members of the Din Family are counting the days.
6. I am grateful that after breaking out and dusting off our rarely used but much hated iron, I was able to place it safely back in the laundry room cupboard. I swear, the lengths I will go to for my child are endless…
Side note – our wedding registry contained about 1,000 things and the only thing our guests didn’t purchase? The iron. It was a sign! I’ve also refused to buy an ironing board and continue to use this classy sheet on top of our washing machine instead.
7. After countless revisions my first Toastmaster’s speech is ready for Friday. I am grateful that the dream I had last night that I had terrible stage freight and couldn’t speak was just a dream.
8. I am grateful that my good friend Maie is taking me to The Roof Garden at the Peninsula for lunch today. She is a hard-to-find good offline friend who has about 100 things going on so I feel pretty special that she has time to spend with me on the rare occasion she isn’t saving someone’s life.
9. I am grateful that I am going to be in Washington D.C. next month…even though I am nervous about how I am going to single-handedly entertain Maya for 3-4 days while Ali mingles with other computer nerds at a Microsoft conference. Anyone interested in meeting up?
10. I am grateful that I didn’t complain a single time in this post! I think I set a new record for myself.
A Few Good Friends
One of my many, many flaws is that I expect a lot from people. I have high expectations of Ali, Maya, my family, my friends, and even our usual Trader Joe’s cashier, who hasn’t let me down yet. Although he did come rather close last week when he told Maya he was out of free stickers. Lucky for him he found a secret stash just in time to avoid my blacklist.
I justify my high expectations by the fact that I give a lot of myself. For example, if anyone was in need of a kidney right now and I was a perfect match, I would give it to them without hesitation. I am not stating this fact to get kudos, but to explain that I would expect the same of someone else, especially if they were a friend or a family member. And if they didn’t come through for me? Well to me that kind of disappointment is hard for me to swallow.
So I shouldn’t be surprised that I don’t have many friends, right? I mean, who wants to feel obligated to give up their kidney? It is a lot to expect of someone, but no matter how much I try I can’t help but to expect it! And more often than not I am disappointed. Which leads me to wonder if I would even want to be friends with me?
Probably not.
In addition to having a spare kidney, other characteristics I look for in a friend include loyalty, kindness, timeliness, and general consideration. Kidney aside, I don’t really think my list of requirements is that unreasonable. But apparently these qualities are difficult to find in real-life.
After dwelling on being disappointed by yet another friend recently, I came to the realization that “real-life friends” are not the end-all, be-all. I mean, why do I need dozens of average people in my life when I have dozens of great friends who just happen to be “virtual?”
People like my good friend Tracey who came up with this wonderful, smart-ass comeback in response to my post on The Most Annoying Question…Ever:
Or Amy who came up a response that had me laughing for about 10 minutes straight:
Or Kim, who, incidentally, I have met and is a great friend on and offline. She reassured me, as she often does, that I am not a horrible person for having just one kid. Or for killing my basil plant:
And Gelareh even tweeted me the other day to let me know she’d be happy to chew out the horrible stylist who hacked my hair off.
Thank you all for being some of the nicest people I have ever “met,” and for being good friends. I hope that one of these days we will all get an opportunity to meet up.
Assuming I haven’t scared you all off with the kidney thing, of course!
The Most Annoying Question…Ever
I find it so interesting that people I’ve known for 5 minutes have the nerve to ask some of the most obnoxious questions. I took Maya to the park after school yesterday, and ran into this seemingly friendly lady who asked me about ten nosy questions in the span of 3 minutes.
Random Park Lady (gesturing to Maya): “Is she your only child?”
Me: Yes, but she has so much energy that sometimes feel like I have 3 kids!”
Random Park Lady: “Are you going to have more kids?’
Me: “No, I can barely handle the one I have.”
Random Park Lady: “Oh, that’s too bad. Your daughter will have a lonely life growing up.”
Me (inching away): “Well she has lots of cousins and friends. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
Random Park Lady (with a “knowing” smile): “It’s not the same thing as having a sibling. Just wait, you’ll change your mind.”
I’m probably blowing things out of proportion and I know I have got to stop letting people bother me so much, but this topic really bothers me. I mean, do I really need to explain to a complete stranger that:
- I developed a life-threatening blood clot during my last trimester and was advised not to have any more kids?
- Does she need to know that if I am crazy enough to consider having more children I would have to inject blood thinner into my stomach again, 3 times a day for 9 months instead of just 3 months like I had to do with Maya?
- Does she really need to be so mean as to point out that Maya will have a lonely life as an only child? Does she not think that hasn’t occurred to me?
- And finally injections or not, I WILL NOT change my mind and decide to have more kids. If I had a dollar for every person who has said that to me I swear I could buy myself my dream $5 million condo in NYC, and I’d probably have enough left over for the flat I’ve been eyeing in London.
I will say this though – if I could hire a live-in nanny to deal with the inevitable sleepless nights that another colicky child will bring, if I didn’t have watch myself gain and lose another 20 pounds, if I didn’t have to inject myself with Heparin 810 times (yes I actually calculated this number), and if someone could assure me that I wouldn’t have to sell my soul again to provide this child with a guaranteed coveted spot in daycare, I may just consider having another child.
Mainly so I could take cute pictures of Maya, like this one:
Then again, borrowing a baby for another picture might just be the smarter, easier, cheaper option?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
