I spent all of Saturday with my friends Kevin and Rocío, Santi and Clara, and with their lovey children Marina and Javier. Marina and Javier were both born in May 2005, and now that they are almost 18 months old they are getting more and more fun to play with. I finally got Javier to start kicking a ball with his feet. Santi was a bit concerned that Javier was always using his hands. Example is the best teacher. So with more actions than words, we showed Javier how to kick the ball. I will never pressure my children to become professional athletes and to retire their father. But, Javier is Santi’s son, so there is no problem with me pressuring his son to fulfill my frustrated professional aspirations and to add to my retirement plan. Meanwhile, Marina is becoming an expert in kissing and in reading. Hmm? You think that I am negatively promoting gender roles with my friends’ children? I would think so, but it is incredibly amazing to see how these two children interact with the world in incredibly different and natural ways: one as a boy and the other as a girl.
In any event, I had so much fun with them all on Saturday. On Friday, me and the parents are all supposed to go to dinner sans children. For some reason, it doesn’t seem so exciting without the kids. I might just come up with some excuse to get out of it . . . (here is Marina showing off her pool tricks).
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