No Burping Allowed
The premise of the idea in today's For Better or For Worse is that young Michael Patterson is burping so he can practice to get better at burping. Naturally, Elly disapproves and tells Michael never to burp again. I find it amusing that Michael would not burp for the sheer enjoyment of it, and is instead working for professionalism. It kind of seems against the Patterson code to practice something to get better at it.
My son likes to burp. I am sure that you are amazed that a 12-year-old boy would like such a thing, but he does. My wife and I tell him to say, “Excuse me,” after he burps. We have learned something that apparently Elly Patterson back in 1979 did not know, which was that sometimes people don’t burp on purpose, but they can always say, “Excuse me.” We tried to accommodate that gastronomic fact with good manners.
So, now my son will let out a huge burp on purpose and then say, “Excuse me.” Is my method better than that of Elly’s in 1979? I still think so. At least our method allows a guy to practice.
My son likes to burp. I am sure that you are amazed that a 12-year-old boy would like such a thing, but he does. My wife and I tell him to say, “Excuse me,” after he burps. We have learned something that apparently Elly Patterson back in 1979 did not know, which was that sometimes people don’t burp on purpose, but they can always say, “Excuse me.” We tried to accommodate that gastronomic fact with good manners.
So, now my son will let out a huge burp on purpose and then say, “Excuse me.” Is my method better than that of Elly’s in 1979? I still think so. At least our method allows a guy to practice.
posted by howard at 9:39 PM
4 Comments:
howard,
It also means that you allow for his being a male life form which is more than Elly ever did. debjyn is correct to say that Elly, with her active hatred of masculine behavior, should never have been allowed to be mother to a small boy. Her entire career as a parent was an endless battle against his being a typical male leading his becoming to a strangely feminized and definitely confused young man.
dreadedcandiru2,
Her entire career as a parent was an endless battle against his being a typical male leading his becoming to a strangely feminized and definitely confused young man.
Unfortunately, this is a problem that our society has in general. It's one of the aspects I like about the Boy Scouts where the boys are allowed to act like boys, and yet still have to be disciplined and hard-working. Truthfully, this fault lies mainly with John Patterson, whom you almost never see interacting with Michael in a father-son relationship that allows Mike to be a guy. A lot of guys have to deal with mothers who discipline them as if they were a girl. That's what moms know, and there is nothing wrong with that.
As I learned from being a father, one of the primary things a father brings to the picture is the ability to roughhouse with his children safely, both boys and girls, which the mother cannot do once the kids reach a certain size. Were there any fishing trip and camping storylines with John and Michael, as there were with John and April later on? I cannot remember.
howard,
Were there any fishing trip and camping storylines with John and Michael, as there were with John and April later on? I cannot remember.
Not very many and they mostly featured Mike's longing for the Great Indoors.
I am also trying to remember if there was any general roughhousing between John and Michael, but nothing comes to mind.
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