{"id":8047,"date":"2014-02-26T15:31:46","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T20:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=8047"},"modified":"2014-02-26T15:31:46","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T20:31:46","slug":"viral-moments-and-metaphors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/02\/viral-moments-and-metaphors.html","title":{"rendered":"viral moments and metaphors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>Those oddly shaped, colourful objects are teethers. My grandson is teething. And (gross-out alert) he’s also blowing mucous in large quantities. Some is the result of teething — we had hoped it all was. But my aching bones, need for a nap, and incipient low-grade fever remind me that the daycare years might also be known as the viral years.<\/p>\n

You can’t draw back from a loving 9-month-old. You can’t avert your face when they cough on you, avoid drool on your cashmere turtleneck (or your neck…), or otherwise avoid contagion.<\/p>\n

Life’s like that — like an enthusiastic, sometimes snotty, 9-month-old. Incredibly cute\/ alluring\/ enticing, but sure to sneak up on you.<\/p>\n

I can’t help it: I’m a poet, and I see metaphors\/ similes\/ and poetry\u00a0 everywhere<\/em>. It’s just how I am. And when I’m grandmothering, I’m worse, believe me.<\/p>\n

Everything becomes a metaphor, a sign. A cold becomes life’s unexpected uphills, while the soft snuggle of a sleepy baby is the reward offered when you continue that uphill.<\/p>\n

It’s worth it. The Tylenol, the noon nap, even the mucuous. Life is a 9-month-old grandson. And it’s sooo worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those oddly shaped, colourful objects are teethers. My grandson is teething. And (gross-out alert) he’s also blowing mucous in large quantities. Some is the result of teething — we had hoped it all was. But my aching bones, need for a nap, and incipient low-grade fever remind me that the daycare years might also be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,549],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,1195,1248],"class_list":["post-8047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-grandmothers","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-family","tag-living-in-the-moment"],"yoast_head":"\nviral moments and metaphors - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Those oddly shaped, colourful objects are teethers. 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