Pater Familias … because I'm your FATHER!

The Opposite Of Nostalgia

January 4, 2010 · Behavior | Glad Dad | Mad Dad

What don't you miss from earlier stages of parenting?

These Things Passed, And I'm Damned Glad They Did...

Around our Girl Child, the big, bright here-and-now throws everything else into shadow.

Either that, or I've got some kind of weird memory disease. But I am often struck by how long gone GC’s previous six years on the planet -- and our earlier parenting -- seem. Memories from just last year can be like somebody else's family videos.

Once in a while, though, something triggers a memory and more than anything I want to go back to when our child was younger. Blindsides and hurts, this parental nostalgia, but it’s also a window on the best, best times.

Then there's the opposite, when stuff comes back that I couldn't stand. And I'm surprised at how much I couldn't stand it.

This happened just the other day at Whole Foods. Walking by the baby food shelf, I looked at all the little jars with cloying faux-country labels proclaiming wholesomeness -- fruits and veggies that never watch TV, whatever -- and ludicrous prices and felt a wave of loathing. A thought, surprising in its power and vehemence arose:

Thank God, I will never, ever have to buy this sh** again.

We, like many over-invested parents, used to feed our baby out of Whole Foods. Since I was at home, I did the buying, dutifully and without much feeling one way or another.
However, as I just discovered, I hated it. Not sure why. Who knew?

More anti-nostalgia comes to mind, always minor sideshows. Actual challenges -- like, say, late but fierce colic, ER-grade vomiting and diarrhea at Lake Tahoe -- don't seem so bad. I'd go through them again, just to get to the good parts. But I never, ever want to go back to, and will never miss...

• Mommy (Daddy) And Me Before Preschool
• Dora The Explorer
• The Wiggles
• Obsesso-pink girliness
• Disney Princess anything
• Our nanny's wars with the neighbors'
• Trying to do the girl's hair (I sucked at combing and brushing; she screamed)

There's more, but now it's your turn... 

Tell us, what don't you miss?

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