We'll See

What does it mean when you say, "We'll see?" I find myself saying this frequently, mostly to my youngest child and mostly to requests for trips to the store, dessert, another hour on the PS II, etc.

Why don't I say "yes" or "no?" I don't know. My youngest is prone to taking no very badly, depending on how well he's slept and eaten. If I say "We'll see," he still has a ray of hope that his wished will be granted. And I am spared having to deal with an angry or annoyed seven year old. I could say no and provide an explanation but the chance that he would stay put for the explanation is slim to none.

So why don't I just say yes? Can I say yes to all his requests? Of course not. He can't go to Game Stop every weekend. He has no money and I can't buy him a new game every week either. Dessert? Rotting teeth nonsense is at play here. More video games? Brain rotting nonsense at play here. A conditional yes is possible. "You can have a piece of fruit or yogurt if your still hungry." That often works. I just have to hope he stays in bed and doesn't see me sneak some ice cream. "You can play video games after you have done your homework (cleaned your room, etc)." That works too.

I suppose I want my kids to grow up with the understanding that you can't have everything you want the instant you want it. You have to eat your vegetables before you can have ice cream. You have to do your homework before you can go outside. You have to sit through the horrendous meeting with the guy who has bad breath before you can work on the cool project. "We'll see," can be seen as a tool for a greater future appreciation of the inevitable unpleasantness you must endure before the fun can start.

We went to the Corcoran Gallery to see Maya Lin's exhibit, Systematic Landscapes. We enjoyed the varying sizes of the works. I think the kids like the huge room sized sculpture called "2x4 Landscape" best. It filled most of the room it was in and was made entirely of sections of 2x4s. I liked it because I liked smelling the wood. I didn't like the gallery employee stationed in the room however. She chastised my kid for leaning on a wall. ???? She wouldn't let me take a picture though no signs indicating this prohibition were posted in the gallery or the exhibit brochure. I'm no art critic but I didn't like the Atlas Landscapes. They were clever. Lin cut landscapey looking shapes out of atlases. I thought it would have been more interesting if the shapes were more relevant to the page she chose. For example. If she had chosen Israel, it would have been cool to see something the shape of the Dead Sea. Maybe she did this and I didn't see it noted in the labels for the works. It was a cool exhibit and we enjoyed it without huge crowds, thanks to a marathon and anti-war protest scaring people away from Washington.

I did feel bad for the gallery employees. While we were there, an alarm near an exhibit of small bronze statues went off 3 times. The statues are displayed on a tiered table that is open. The display tempts you to lean over to view the pieces from several vantage points, but this is not a what the Corcoran wants. There are motion sensors on the perimeter of the lowest table that go off every time you lean in. Very annoying. If they don't want people to look more closely, they should enclose the display.

That's all for now. Enjoy your day.