Sunday, April 12, 2009

Free Write

If I had followed the path of my "old" life, Pumpkin would be hunting for chocolate eggs right now instead of watching Disney movies. I'm not talking about a change in religions - I've always been Jewish, although it wasn't exactly prevalent in my earlier years. I grew up in a more or less Godless fashion, and I kinda liked it. My mom converted when she married my dad, but she kept the commercial Christian holidays alive, so we feasted on crappy, hollow, chocolate Easter treats. I've got the Jewish facade thing going on now seeing as I married someone whose family sorta does Judaism properly, thus no Easter Bunny. I did promise Pumpkin that I'd buy her Hungry Hungry Hippos for Passover, although I'm running out of time on that one. Maybe I'll build up some hype for that treat for the last of the eight day holiday. We're not actually keeping Passover, so it'll seem outta the blue for her, but whatever. I guess I'm feeling Easter egg hunt envy for everyone who updated facebook today with details of hidden eggs and excited children. We did have our two Seder meals, but the buck stops there for us. I'm not bunging myself up with matzoh for eight days, not at least until a time when my daughters start Hebrew school and need me to walk the walk with them. Hypocrite much? I am what I am. Actually, there was a time when I talked about converting to Christianity. I was 13 and going out with a guy from my friend's church's youth group. I mentioned to my mom, quite flippantly, that I might convert for him. I don't remember my mom's reaction, but she called my dad to let him know, and I recall him being upset about this and having a word with me. Dudes, when a 13 year old makes a statement like this, clearly without knowing what's involved, let it go! It will pass! Will I be able to recognize the circumstances that do not require intervention? Like the time when I was 17 and my boyfriend at the time explained to my mom that when he gets married, he planned to continue to live with his parents, along with the wife and kids. My mom questioned me about my willingness to do this, suggesting that I bail. As a 17 year old who had yet to even have sex, I really didn't care what this guy's plans were. Even I recognized at the time that this would not be my problem. It turned out not to be any one's problem. He has since come out of the closet and probably does not live with his parents. Incidentally, I was still a 17 year old virgin by the end of that relationship. Go figure. Oh, and then there was this trailer trashy guy who worked in a cemetery doing, uhhmmm, "landscaping". It was just one of those things, yannow? My mom freaked out on me a lot during those days. Anyhow, although I probably wouldn't like to see either of my daughters going out with a grave digger of questionable origin, I would like to hope I will be able to keep my anxiety under wraps, knowing that she'll snap out of it at the end of cottage season, or at least until the guy reveals his grand master plan of getting rich selling Amway. Nothing wrong with selling Amway. It just might be a good idea to have a plan B. My mom is probably smirking now, saying, "Just you wait....".

2 comments:

Chantal said...

I have some doozies in my past. Hopefully my sins won't be revisited on me. :)

Barrie said...

My mother could certainly relate with your mother!