video

Okay, I admit it, sometimes I am just so stubborn about the absolute lamest things. Some notable previous examples of this can be found in my relationship with food and being in a strange place. Nooooo, I scream, there are no beans here like refried beans - I can't have them then and I am going to pout about it for far too long. See, look at this shelf, nothing says PINTO beans. Stamps foot, whines, looks sullen. Eventually, I came to realise that pinto beans are called SUGAR beans here. What a waste of a temper tantrum - I was wrong. And the cans of pumpkin - oh yeah, don't need to buy the whole pumpkin, but I do need to boil and mash the pre-packaged bags of pumpkin in order to make some pies. Oh, and I still haven't seen Forest Gump, because of some weird idea that it took best picture away from Tarantino. I need to stop here before I give myself a complex, but the point is I have been stubborn and wrong before. What can you do.

When YouTube came into the world and everyone went "way-oh way-oh" I just ignored it. More, I ignored the emails from friends that said, "hey check this video out (link to YouTube)". Although that was a combination of the fact that I wasn't interested in YouTube mixed with the idea in my head that I CAN'T STAND fwds and jokes and "hey check this out" emails. I know how to use the internet, I can find these things on my own, when I want, if I want. I am so stubborn.

Sometimes it did feel like I was the only person I'd ever met that hadn't spent at least a few hours in front of YouTube browsing for the funniest video to pass on to my friends. Not like I was purposely ignoring the site, it just NEVER occurred to me. I'd sit around at a braai listening to other people talk about what they have seen and who sent them what and generally make some excuse to exit the conversation, like, "I'd better go make a salad" or "can I get you more to drink?" And the last time we went to a friend's house, I got into it. Stamps feet - THERE ARE NO PINTO BEANS AND I DON'T CARE!

So this is of course the part where I am humbled and start buying up stock of sugar beans. Steve recorded Oscar and uploaded it to YouTube. Then Felix. And then I was emailing people all over the place - hey you, go check out my kids on the internet. And then I realised, this is great, my friends and family back home can now get a moving glimpse of my children. Go watch it, go watch it my emails urge. See my children. Go look at Felix's first day of school. More coming, keep checking back. I have become a fiend, checking to see how many times my kids have been viewed on the internet. Humbled.

Okay look, I still haven't searched for today's funniest video, I haven't gone back and looked at the recommendations I was previously given, but at least I can not stomp my feet and denounce the whole project. I am still too stubborn... But for those of you who aren't, go check out my kids on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=stevebrimelow

For now, I have to go cook and mash up some sugar beans, cause thats all refried beans are no matter what they are called. And by the way, I have also looked up the stacking order of a Whopper and I can now get that here as well...

tractor

Today I realised I have little boys. Okay, I did know this before and I’ve even had similar revelations in the past, but this morning I had an all new insight into the mind of small male beings.

As always, I had this feeling whilst in my car, driving to work. I was singing along to an old favourite (seriously days of old – and I’m sure only Josie can guess what it is), tapping on the steering wheel. Having a moment and a half, thinking about how much I hated getting up in the middle of the night to roll up the windows on my car during one hell of a storm, and simultaneously how grateful I was for having done it – and then I saw it.

I wanted to scream out, “boys look!!!!”, but of course they weren’t in the car and even if they had been, the “it” passed so quickly, I would have had to explain it for another 15 minutes or so! The “it” was a blue tractor with white trim! Oh holy excitement! And it looked just like the toy blue tractor with white trim that the boys have in their toy box – although it has to be said that the tractor on the road was probably cleaner than the one in the toy box.

What is completely amazing about this experience is not the fact that I saw a tractor that looks just like a toy, but the fact that I saw a tractor and I wanted to play with it. I am not kidding you, I wanted to play with the tractor. And if I couldn’t play with the big one, well I wanted to get down on the floor and make vrrrrooom vrrrooommmmm noises as I pushed my little play tractor on the floor.

Needless to say, this feeling only lasted for a few seconds and I was pulled back into my song, tapping my fingers until I arrived a minute later in the parking lot at work, but the joy of understanding my little ones for just a second, just one tiny moment in time is priceless. The big test is when I get home from work and tell them – oh should I tell them I understand? Nah, I’ll just keep being mommy, dancing in the car, buffing their nails, never telling them that I’ve got the upper hand. I’ll play with the tractor after they go to bed. And maybe tomorrow I’ll pass a flash car and decide I want to play with one of those as well….