Please

It's been about a year since I began the effort of getting my son to say please. So, we're talking, not long after his first word, came the push for manners. It's just how I was raised, I guess. The Southern gentile woman side of my person.

And yes, he did say his first word at six months old: cat. The boy has always been a talker, despite his tendency to observe the scene and approach people and situations with caution. God, I love these things about him.

Anyway, today, Jan. 25th, he said "please." Twice. With one high five from mom.

What's the big deal about please? Is it really necessary when asking for what one wants? While this could be a whole conversation on its own, I am not going to spend the time right now. "Back later," as Asher says when he wants us to return to an activity we are stopping.

So how does all of this relate to my UOP job? It doesn't frankly. Other than, I asked God to please let me be a stay-at-home mama who doesn't have to work part-time. Please let it be possible for me to gain the super-mama skills and energy to wipe his chin while whiting out inappropriate feedback on student essays.

Please only goes so far. Even if you feel in your gut somewhere that God gets it - and even appreciates proper Southern niceities (defined by the urban dictionary as "a word for kindness when you can't think of the word for kindness). That the universe wants to support you, but it just doesn't have the frickin' time.

Thus, I will be continuing to teach a class for an unknown period of time. Maybe until I actually go back to work full-time, when Ash is older.

At this point in the "story," it seems appropriate to say "thank you." Even if using please doesn't always get us what we want, we should still have the good sense to say thank you. No, mom didn't let me have chocolate cake, but she did give me prunes!