Bowman West

I used to post real stuff on here, but since Charlie arrived he's been the obvious topic choice. It's just easier and an easy crowd pleaser. But I'm feeling the need for a little more tonight...

It's been a heavy week for obvious reasons, and since I'm currently teaching sociology to college students I've faced a lot of "why" and "what now" questions in the last few days. So, as any good academician would do I ran through the different theoretical perspectives and talked about macro-level systems and structures, micro-level personal problems, blah...blah...blah. I LOVE what I teach. I'm very fortunate to get to study and share with others what I'm passionate about. I just get overwhelmed sometimes with the gravity of it all. My current class topic is social stratification which leads into the next topic of racial & ethnic prejudice and discrimination. Heavy stuff but always my favorite. It's hard for a lot of students to hear and even harder to reconcile the effort involved in developing and executing solutions. I find myself spouting a lot of rhetoric about how cultural, social, economic & political change have to coincide for true and lasting change to occur. Then, as I look at my students who are either half asleep or in deep conversation via cell phone text, a voice in the back of my head says, "Oh, is that all that has to happen? Why didn't you say so? I'll get right on that." How do I teach them to solve the world's problems when I'm so often overwhelmed by them myself? Just wondering.

I know what this all sounds like but I'm really not that melancholy right now. I snuggled Charlie into his afternoon nap, then did a lot of yard work which involved spraying Charlie with the water hose. He got to play in the mud (and eat some of it) and then we got clean together in a bubble bath. Of course he has bathtub books so we read a few of those too. Then we had a post-bath snuggle followed by Charlie walking to his crib when I said, "Let's go night night." Now who wouldn't be on cloud nine after all of that? I know I am!