"Why Be You When You Can Be NEW?!?!"

We recently watched the movie Robots again...and again...

While the kids watched in the back seat and I listened from the front, I remembered the ad campaign launched by the smarmy new CEO under the direction of his diabolical mother with the intent to make millions: all based on the fact that no-one would be able to fix themselves up with spare parts anymore - they would have to completely remake themselves whenever one little part became obsolete or damaged.

Hmmm. It got me thinking the last time I watched the movie, and it got me thinking this time. On the one hand, I'm a total believer in "new" - and I love new starts and new blank books and the idea of being "made over." I think there's a delicious and wonderful true element of hope and possibility in all that.

But I also think we overwhelm and choke the essence of who we really are when the "new" we desire at any cost is someone - or more often, someTHING - that is not really our true self.

And I think there's a lot of power in using the best of what we've got, taking a hard look at what's damaged and obsolete and making it better, but most of all in loving who we really are and what we really have, enough to keep the good parts and make them shine, shine, shine.

That's what I'm going to work on more. Sometime soon.

***

And that, mys friends, was my best effort at profound and/or interesting tonight...

Since right after Thanksgiving, we have had at least one - if not two or three - people in the house sick: stomach bug (at the risk of proffering too much information, I just have to say that watching a little half asleep boy in the middle of the night try and figure out if it would be better to sit on the toilet and lean over the tub or vice versa is one of the saddest sights ever), flu/severe colds, inexplicable aches and high fevers, and pneumonia (poor David!). All of it (except the pneumonia, thank heavens) has cycled through most of us at least twice now.

Copious amounts of laundry, lack of sleep (or lots of bad sleep?), still having to be the mom even when I feel like gunk, not being able to do anything but ride it out, holding hot little whimpering babies...It's one of those times that I just must say, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!!"

I think we are slowly getting better - Henry and Jane are still down, but hopefully in the next day or two, we will all be on our feet and feeling good as...new?

Maybe.

New, but with all the same laundry piled to the ceiling, right? Ah well. C'est la vie.