Monday, December 17, 2007

Mama Stink

Conor has started yoga at daycare. A yogini comes by every two weeks and teaches the children different positions. The first class just involved reaching for the sun, but lately, Conor has shown us how he can make himself into a ball and how he can not only do Down Dog, but can then do Down Dog with one hand behind his back.

It's pretty impressive not only that he knows these positions, but that they are teaching children yoga at daycare.

On Sunday, we were decorating cookies together and Conor put his hands in prayer pose and bowed a little while he said "mamastink."

"What?" I asked.

"Manastink. Mamastink. Mamastink," all the while his hands are folded.

"I think you mean 'Namaste'" I suggested to him.

"Mamastink," he replied.

"Namaste," I counted.

This went on for a while until he got very frustrated and said "YOGA! YOGA! I learned this in Yoga cwass!!!"

"I know, honey! I learned it in yoga class, too. And it's Namaste!"

"Mamastink!!" he insisted one more time, although finally willing to concede that maybe Mama might know a bit more about yoga than he. And that she didn't stink.

********************

We continue to be on Death Watch. I thought Sergio had finally kicked the fishbowl Saturday morning when I had to go past just flicking the side of the bowl to shaking it a bit to see if he was still alive. (He squiggled a bit, so we took that as a proclamation that he was not dead yet.) This morning he actually ate something so I think we have a while to go.

It's very sad to see an animal towards the end. We are certainly following his lead on this. Sort of like attachment parenting, but more like attachment fishing, but where the attachments do not involve lures. Also, it's hard to comfort a fish. They don't take to touching and petting all that well.

He's had a good little life, our Sergio. And I think he has a little bit left in him. Maybe he'll make it to Christmas. I'm sure that the holiday holds much meaning for him.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Male bettas, in the wild, live in shallow water (like puddles). They don't go anywhere because they sit under their bubblenests waiting for females to notice them. Female bettas are like Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law. They stalk one another because since they are the ones who are mobile, they stake out territory and males. (My cousin was breeding these fish in a flat 40 gallon heavily planted tank. I got some of the kids and kept them for a while. Interesting but not fascinating like South American dwarf Cichlids.)

Believe me: Sergio is fine. He lives in the moment. He has no expectations.

Next time you are tempted to keep bubblenesters, give them a planted aquarium. When these fish are living in as close to their natural environment as possible, they are way more interesting than when they live in an environmentally deprived situation: a bowl. If you do keep a male with one or more females, they must have a really good environment with blocked sightlines. (plants)

gk

Anita said...

Yes, Sergio does have planted grass and a castle both of which he loves to hang out in/on and watch what is happening. He is actually much happier today than in the last few days.

OneTiredEma said...

I seriously heart the yoga story!

Carroll said...

Woo! Finally got through a weeks-long intractable glitch in the blogger/google account comment gatekeeper (my problem, not yours) I'll catch up with back posts (maybe) pretty soon, Anita, but wanted to say "Merry Everything!" to you and your good family. Hugs from here :-)