On the same wave length

I first had the idea for this post last Fall when I was walking my older daughter to school with the leaves on the ground all over.  We heard a truck around the corner from where we were and my daughter said, "Daddy, lets not go that way, I am afraid of the truck which is around the corner."   I said, "I know." and she asked me how I knew?

I knew because I was afraid of the same truck when I was small.  
"You are afraid because you think it is a monster," I said
"Yes," she said and looked up at me like I was psychic.  

We walked over to the other side of the street and turned the corner.  There was a street sweeper.  

When I was small I hated them, because they were like a monster.  They would come and grab you and sweep you up into its hold with the rest of the leaves and small garbage in the gutter of the street via its menacing rotating brush.  But when I was small they  

were much more scary with a big white unconventional square body which had a huge compartment for the refuse.  But you didn't stay in the compartment with the rubbish, you got swept up into another dimension, the garbage dimension.  Then you were gone.   

The one we averted was much smaller with a compact orange body.  But it made the same sound and had the same round circular, rotating brush.  Hence, still a monster.
  

But the point I wanted to make was it got me to thinking how many other similarities I had with my daughter and how many would become apparent through life.  I already knew about the ketchup/condiments connection.   As I wrote in a much earlier post, she loves ketchup.  She can put it on a lot of stuff from hot dogs to eggs to fish and chicken.  I don't use it so liberally these days ("es ist verboten" said my wife), but I know why and when my daughter will use it.  Of late she has discovered barbecue sauce.   Yeap, that one is on the agenda too.  Still to come:  mustard, mayonnaise and much later, probably after she is a teenager, vinegar and or balsamic vinegar which I only discovered ten years ago, but can`t eat a salad without it now.  And last but not least, really spicy sauces like Tabasco sauce.  I put that on my egg in place of the ketchup.  Yum.  

In my mind I started to extrapolate on the logic of the potential similarities.  Maybe I could really help her out in life.  "No, no, my little girl, you don't want to try that out,  trust me, there is no point" And, "You know, you should really take physics because if you don't you are really going to be sorry about it for the rest of your life.  Yes the rest of your life.  In fact I am going to demand that you take that physics course. You will thank me."  And the clincher "No, you don't want to start a relationship with that boy.  Don't even start it, no don't even go to the movies with him.  No, I'm telling you, it will end in tears.  How do I know?  Well, because I went out with the girl equivalent of him umpteen years ago and ... it ended in tears.   You remember that street cleaner you were afraid of when you were six years old because you thought it was a monster?  Well, its the same thing.  He will suck you up and spit you into the garbage dimension."    

Well,... I guess we have to learn some things ourselves.  And she will have to learn, often the hard way too.  Hopefully she will learn from her mistakes.  Often we don't.  I know that too.  Uh, don't ask how I know that.  

I guess I cant "cheat and kibitz" for her all the way through her life like telling her what to discard at a poker game.  But it must be fair game, it has to be part of parenting (I think it is in chapter 5 of "Parenting for Dummies") that we impart our general knowledge and experience to our offspring.  I mean we can`t have learned it all for naught.  I think it is sensible that we tell them in advance that if you mix drinking wine and beer you are going to end up anywhere and you wont know where except that it will be face down, and other such gems of wisdom.  

And I hope I am around to push her through and out of quickly a rather brutal period of mid life crisis which will entail static nothingness and very bad laziness and lethargy possibly extending upwards of five years.  If she experienced that phase I would certainly give her a good kick up the arse every day to keep her moving and progressing and DOING, otherwise, ... well its a long, sad story which I will spare you and I pray I can spare her too.  

Suffice to say, she WILL be taking the physics class in High School.  I have always regre,... I mean she will regret it if she doesn't.  I KNOW!  

A last message for Fathers:  Pay attention to the details of your children.  Revel in the similarities and smile when you see yourself in your children as if you were looking into a time machine mirror.  Play along.  Understand.  Remember what it was like.  It was only yesterday.  


A couple end notes:

http://www.discogs.com/Godflesh-Streetcleaner/release/73735
I will only add the link to the album by Godflesh called "Street Cleaner" as the cover might offend some people religiously and it is not my intention to offend in my posts, or at least warn first.  It is a very disturbing album also, but mostly from the instrumentation.  I dont even listen to the vocals or know what he is saying.  Anyway, when it came out (1989), it had a big effect on me.  

And here is the complete short video which goes with the picture of the street sweeper above.  It seems to be a home video.  It captures well the sheer monstrosity of the old Street Sweeper.  

http://www.ovguide.com/flemington-borough-police-department-9202a8c04000641f80000000074c9c1c