dadjournal part ii

"Alex continues to ask for definitions of words; what does 'fancy' mean? 'important'? 'guilty?' The other day she asked me what 'crazy' means! She knows what it means to be crazy about someone or something, but she's aware that 'crazy' means something else. I was at a loss for a clear definition. I said, 'Well, it's when someone is confused and isn't thinking so good and makes a lot of mistakes.' Alex: Dad, you make a lot of mistakes. Me: I make some mistakes. Alex: You make a lot of mistakes, Dad. Me: Well, I'm not crazy."

"Alex has varying interest and tolerance for hearing her parents sing. I sing badly and rarely can remember the words to any song, so her patience for my singing is short. Karen sings sweetly, can carry a tune, and knows the words to many songs, but even she gets the hook from Alex on occasion. When Alex is interested in learning a song-- we only realize after she's learned it-- she'll have Karen sing it over and over, three or four times in a row. The other day, though, she said to Karen, 'Don't sing! Sing to some kids who would like it instead of me.' When my singing bugs her she'll put her hands over her ears and say, 'Don't sing! Ever! Never again!' "

"I was gone all day today but when I returned Alex was in good spirits. She had gotten a book today at Joel & Jerry's-- Beauty and the Beast. She has seen the movie several times and likes the story very much. It is one of the many imaginary scenarios she likes to act out. She will always be Belle, but Karen and I seem to be assigned different parts. One day I'll be Maurice (the father), the next day I'll be the Beast and the next day I'm Gaston, the arrogant brute whose proposals of marriage Belle emphatically rejects. Today, I was told I was Gaston, and I must have pleaded my case well enough because she agreed to marry me. Matter-of-factly she told the Beast (Karen), who took the news well enough (she was reading a catalogue, and when she's reading a catalogue, she really doesn't care if Belle wants to marry her or not). I was happy Belle decided to marry me-- I hate rejection. That's why I usually like to be the Beast. I growl a lot at the beginning and I'm ugly of course, but then Belle melts me with her kindness, I come around a little, stop acting like such an agitated prick, and in the end she marries me, and with her declaration of love I become a handsome prince, which is essentially the story of how Karen and I got together. Nah."