I am dealing with two learning curves.

Actually, one of them is just a reminder of things I already knew, but at a higher rate of speed.

The first one is WordPress. It is a wonderfully adaptable and ownable blog software. Finding just what you want and being able to use it is a nice change from blogger. Of course, if you happen to hit this blog while I am trying things out, the appearance may change while you are off reading the comments on another post…

The second one is raising a child. Again. In my first marriage, there were two girls that came with the first wife. I raised them both as my own. (the older one has issues, and I will not be talking about her.) The younger one was six months old when I married her mother, and she only knows me as “daddy” – which is really, really cool. She is 22 now and married, living in Idaho with her husband and dog and cat in a house they just bought.

Now, I have this sixteen month old information sponge that I am raising. I have learned that chores go a lot quicker when a toddler is helping. No, really – they have to. At least, the chores that you can accomplish while watching a small person with eighteen arms and forty two hands. For example, emptying the dishwasher. MEG has figured out how to unlock and open the dishwasher (and also how to lock it and start it, whether it’s ready to go or not) so when the dishes are clean, they need to be put away. I have found that it takes about 3.5 seconds to empty and store the dishes. (when I was a teenager, it would take me about 3.5 days to do the dishes when asked. told. commanded. ordered. threatened.) Otherwise, most of them get to be reloaded and rewashed after MEG shares the flatware with the dogs and the plates with the cats.

While I was in the Marine Corps, two minute showers were the rule. We lived in squad bays from the Korean War era (interesting sidenote – my Dad helped build most of them on Camp Pendleton. he was a Marine Corps meteorologist, which is a perfect MOS for building squad bays, right?) (they are all replaced by BEQ dorms now, two Marines to a room, no comradarie…) Anyway – sixty guys, ten shower heads, reveille was called at 0500, assembly at 0600 and chow at 0630, so there was not a lot of time for you to relax in a long hot shower. That’s history. Now, two minutes to a toddler is forever. My shower lasts ninety seconds on a slow day, so MEG doesn’t start getting upset because I’m out of sight. Unless, of course, I’m up before she is, then I grab a longer shower and get shaved and dressed rather leisurely. On those days, I even get to enjoy shaving with the straight razor, taking my time and having deep thoughts.

Everything else is in a hurry – her hurry. Somethings don’t get done – the floor has little piles in the corner (I’m not going to tell you piles of what, so don’t even bother asking.) and the entertainment center needs to be dusted – again. But, I am not going to take time away from MEG’s learning curve to satisfy someone else’s idea of clean. The house is not going to fall apart, and we can still tell what color the tile is.

Make sure you wish your mother a Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow.

I may even break my own rule about not allowing bitterness to creep into my life and call my own mother. Maybe. Long story for another post.

Have a good weekend.

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