to The Village Square

Lea’s bloggy response on babies and bathwater OR… Glub. Glub. Glub.

March 3rd, 2008

NOBODY puts baby in a corner! (the “dirty dancing” version of throwing
baby out with the bathwater)…

So to follow Liz’s line of thought…. (3 posts down)
BABY = business and government and other things that are at the core
necessary and good for our lives and country
BATHWATER= excess and indulgence

I was VERY good at the analogies section of the SAT exam, can you tell?

Aren’t we are all bathing in that same bathwater these days? (by the
way, that is another metaphor since our bathtub is WAY too small for
all of us to be in at one time). Not only bathing in the dirty
bathwater, but clearly VERY aware of everyone’s else’s bathwater…
but our own.

I started to write this post about the excessive bathwater that seems
to be coming with the election (too much coverage, too much exposure,
too much campaigning, too much makeup on those candidates…) but
found that the excessive piles of STUFF on my desk was distracting me,
the hectic and overstuffed schedule that my three kids are on keeps me
from having time to think clearly about any subject (just about to
make an orthodontist run with the eldest child, so this has to be
typed quickly), and the additional, not really needed stuff on my “got
to get it at target” list is also staring me in the face and is a bit
convicting (but the cute spring placemats are so necessary to my life).

How can i make judgements about BIG corporate presidents being
excessive, about government over spending, about campaign spewing,
when my own budget, my own personal spending is exactly the SAME
bathwater swill. the ring in my tub may be smaller, but it is still a
ring around my tub. As the old playground saying goes “point a finger
at me and you have three pointing back at you” (said in a really whiny
kindergarten tone). My own schedule is jam packed with nary a moment
to breathe and just be a good person to others and to myself.

It is bathwater, bathwater, everywhere and nary a drop to drink.

“Cultural restoration (like charity) begins at home” (said by Russell
Kirk who i just googled and found out was a really big conservative
guy. Really i didn’t know that, i just liked that quote, perhaps
showing my conservative slant on things). If i can only manage the
draining of my own bathwater whilst preserving baby in my home and
personal life, then that may be a beginning of a cultural
revolution…. or maybe just a cleaner bathtub for me and my family.
How can I aspire to do more while I am in the overfilled tub already?

Much like the warning on hairdryers “not for use while in the
bathtub”, maybe that should be the warning on complaints about
excessiveness in other’s lives… don’t do it while ordering online
from Pottery Barn or planning another shopping trip to Target.

(disclaimer, you can substitute ANY and ALL consumer friendly stores
for Pottery Barn and Target, those happen to be my personal favorites
and I am accepting any and all gift certificates from those
establishments… wait, that will just add to my excess… won’t it?
Oh, I am in deep bathwater here….)

Entry Filed under: On this we agree, Politics as UNusual?