Comments:

Claudia - 2006-11-13 12:06:53
Missed the impalement entry. I can say I've never fantasized about that. I saw a neighborhood cat impaled on a wrought iron fence that surrounded our next door neighbor's house when I was a kid. it was gruesome and cured me of any such fantasies.
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chris - 2006-11-15 18:53:43
I was just talking to a friend about this, as a matter of fact. I still remember a conversation last year at the coffee store with a woman I had never met in which I found out (through very little effort on my part, believe me) exactly which classes her daughter was taking (all very advanced), what grades she was getting (all very good), where her big sister is going to college (a very good school) and how she was doing (quite well)! The thing was, I knew 2 minutes into the conversation that I was about to find out all of the above. There's some kind of bumper sticker -- my kid can beat up your honor roll student -- something like that, which I'm tempted to get. Or there's the (true) adage from K's days in architecture school -- A students will work for B students at firms owned by C students. But the tricky thing is, as you point out, how hard it is to avoid doing it oneself -- because of course everyone is proud of their kids, and most kids have something to be proud of, and no parent can resist talking about her kids. I guess the thing is to be aware -- I know when I'm bragging about my kids. I'm not really sure that this woman did. It made me question whether she'd done anything very interesting in her own life ... Ha!
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Harriet - 2006-11-15 20:35:48
I think you've hit the nail on the head in that last sentence, Chris. It seems to be worst for people who don't have enough going on away from their children.
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