Kieran's Baptism

Father of the Year entry

So sometimes the stupid things we do as parents take a while to materialize and we are spared for a few years the consequences of our actions. In other instances, the repercussions are quite fast, say 24 hours. The other night I was playing with Kieran and just generally goofing around, I seem to have an enlarged ability to come down to an 18 month olds maturity level! At one point I got this great idea to play a biting game. I would gently bite Kieran's arm until he pulled away, then his foot, ear, and so on. It certainly didn't cause any harm and his peals of laughter were ricocheting of the ceiling. In turn he would also clamber up on me and gently bite my nose, my chin, and so on. I am sure most of you by now see where this story is going...

Sure enough, when I arrived at his daycare the following afternoon, Tina (who runs the daycare in her home) reported that out of the blue Kieran had started biting everyone! She said it was out of character and that a few times the bites really hurt. I reacted in disbelief and said, well kids go through stages at this age (as my mind was racing back to the night before). Tina responded that she figured his back teeth were coming in and he needed to chew on something. Still refusing to incriminate myself I replied, "yes, that certainly must be the problem, it should go away shortly." I sheepishly scuttled out of her home, feeling more than a little guilty that my misguided son had gotten in trouble because of his father's stupidity! So now that I have come clean, I vow in this public forum - NO MORE BITING GAMES! I will at least have to be creative in finding other ways to screw up my son!

I think I am in strong contention for the Father of the Year award, although I do face some stiff competition here and also here.

People Like Me - A poem by Melissa Hussain

My twin sister Melissa is quite an accomplished poet (as is her husband Azfar). Now and again I will share some of their works, as they speak deeply of justice, meaning, and a way of life that benefits all people, not just the powerful.


People like me

People like me
yearn for
the dewfresh sunrise
of another land,
its crystalline consummation
glowing from the retina
of illusion.

People like me
smile and point at
the quaint old woman
who hobbles through the crowd
in the authentic garb of her clan,
a threadbare shawl shadowing
eyes that have not forgotten where home is.

People like me
revel in
the London afterdance of midnight crowding
for a seat on the underground,
a chance to whisper and point
at the man asleep from exhaustion,
lunchpail clutched in his lap
trapped by the nightly repetition,
the rocking tube a harbinger of his monotony.

People like me
are sure that
septembergreen hills and sombre stars
across the blackwake sea
will hold for them a Jericho
of promise fruit
ripe and dripping with lifejuice,
none fallen or abandoned underneath the wet stones

The Real Cookie Monster

Yesterday morning after Daddy had left for work, Mommy was lying in bed catching a last few precious minutes while Kieran played with toys. As he had wandered out of the bedroom, Mommy kept one ear on alert for noises of concern. Particularly concerning noises from an 18 month old are: a loud "uh oh," an interested "wow, poopy," and the sound that was heard this particular morning, a chair scrapping across the kitchen floor.

Maranda snapped up in bed to hear little feet padding in the kitchen followed by soft incantations of "cookie, cookie, cookie" and the unmistakable sound of our kitchen chair being slowly and deliberately pulled across the tile. A smile crossed her face as she realized that Kieran was on a mission to recover one of the cookies on the counter that he and mommy had baked the night before.

In a few moments she had halted the attempted burglary, but didn't have the heart to deny him a cookie as the fruit of his labor. Daddy has smiled more than once at the image of his precious son quietly chanting cookie as he inched the kitchen chair into the proper cookie rescue position.

Who Needs a Truck?

Anyone who has traveled to a country where motorcycles are the primary mode of transportation has likely been amazed at the creative ways that truck worthy loads are transported. Only the first pic is mine, the rest are pirated.