Posts Tagged ‘ Biz ’

Left-handed, right-brained and misunderstood

As I get older and move further along in my career in public communications, I am realizing more and more how very right-brained I am.

I’m a lefty, so I tend to do things a bit backwards. I also think differently. (Or so it seems to me.)

I get frustrated when I’m in a meeting and others aren’t on the same page as me. I find I’m often about 12 steps ahead of people, while they’re still processing an idea I’ve long since moved on from.

In the past, I just thought I had unique insight. Now, I realize my brain doesn’t process the same as the majority of the people around me.

My 22-month old, Biz, looks like he’s also going to be a lefty. He’s favored his left hand for eating and drawing (or “frawing”) since he learned how to hold a spoon. To gain more insight (that’s not my own) on the subject of how the right-brained person works, I found an article by Barbara Pytel on suite101.com. Here are some direct quotes from the article:

  • Right brains don’t like to listen to directions and don’t like to read them. They scan quickly and figure out what to do without reading details.

  • They don’t memorize well and need to visualize a picture so they can recall the facts.
  • Right brains don’t explain what they feel well and are misunderstood. They think of one thing, say another because their brain has already moved on to another thought.
  • Right brains don’t like to jump through the hoops to get something done. They also don’t like to follow rules which don’t make sense to them.
  • They see the whole person and are less likely to condemn a person because of a flaw.
  • Rights are trusting–too trusting. They easily have patents and ideas stolen from them, usually to a left. Lefts know how to use an idea. They just can’t come up with them on their own.
  • Rock and Roll music is preferred by rights. They are also easily distracted by music.
  • They often use their hands when they speak and may have difficulty speaking if they are not allowed to use their hands.
  • Right brains embrace new ideas. They are future thinkers and enjoy introducing controversial ideas.
  • They believe that everything is possible, tend to be very creative, and don’t see the pitfalls along the way.

    [Read more at Suite101: Right Brain Characteristics: Half of the population is right-brained.]

These all describe me very, very well.

Being a left-handed, right-brained person, I admittedly scanned through this article quickly, stopping on the points that truly resonated with me.

You might want to read the full article to gain your own insight.

2010
10/15
CATEGORY
Being a lefty
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Potty Training Part Deux

I recently started the process of potty training with my youngest son, Biz, though I can’t say it was a conscious decision. He’s 21 months old and was giving the ladies at daycare a hard time on the changing table. (He’s particularly stubborn and squirmy.) They gave him the option of going on the potty instead of having his diaper changed, and he went for it.

Initially, I was thinking that he wasn’t ready for potty training. I’d go along with it for consistency-sake, but I didn’t think it would stick. So far, I’ve been wrong.

My oldest son, G, was fully potty trained by the time he was 2 1/2. We had no issues with him. Not even bed wetting at night. He was actually trained closer to 2, but he put off buying the underwear for a little while. When he was ready, he told me.

Back to Biz, I figured I couldn’t be that lucky twice. Especially with two boys. (That’s what all the potty training articles tell you anyway.) And though Biz could certainly go the other way if he decides to, I really feel like he’s going to be even quicker than G. He readily tells me when he needs to go, and he’s already gone potty in a public bathroom. (G took longer to do both these things consistently.) He’s one determined child and when he makes up his mind, that’s it. He also has a killer potty celebration dance.

There are a lot of articles out there that tell you when to start (or not start) potty training, what to do and how to do it. I’ve never listened to any of these. Frankly, most of them don’t seem to work for me or my family. (I’ve never been good with charts.)

And, I think that’s the key to successful potty training. Find what works for you. We bought a potty for G at around 18 months, when he started asking for us to change his diaper. We simply talked to him about how when he’s ready, he could go to the bathroom on the potty like a big boy. And, yes, we modeled for him by letting him watch us go to the bathroom. (I do find that it’s a lot better for the parent of the same sex to model for the child in the bathroom. There are some things you just don’t need to explain at that age.)

I’m sure other parents think I’m starting too early. My response to that is that it’s not my decision. It’s for Biz to decide. I didn’t do a thing for G to get him potty trained. I just provided him the tools (i.e., the potty) and the encouragement to do it himself. And when he didn’t want to do it, I didn’t make it an issue. I’m doing the same for Biz.

Here’s hoping for a new year without diapers.

2010
09/26
CATEGORY
Being a Mom
Milestones
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“I can’t understand a word he’s saying”

The boys and I were at the Curtis Memorial Library the other day in the kids’ play area. My 14 month old was chattering away in his little language that only I and Miss Lori from daycare can decipher. A boy my older son was playing with said to me, with a frustrated look, “I can’t understand a word he’s saying.”

This comment made me laugh. I explained that Biz (his actual nickname) was still learning to talk, and that he probably talked like that when he was little. It made me think about all the funny things G, my 4 1/2 year old, has said in the few short years he’s been talking.

He was an early talker, and I wrote down every word he would say until he said so many new words that I couldn’t keep up. All kids say funny things at some point. Here are some of my favorite quotes from G in no particular order:

  • While in the waiting for an ob appointment: “Is her going to pee in a cup?” (re: every pregnant woman who walked by us)
  • After my dad asked me to get a fork for him while I got up from the dinner table to tend to his baby brother: “My mom has two hands and not four.”
  • While watching a Bruins v. Flyers hockey game: “That orange guy just beat up our Bruin. That’s not good.”
  • After telling him to “hold his horses” because he was rushing me out the door: “I can’t mom. My horse ran away.”
  • Loudly and assertively: “Doing?!” (his way of asking what we were doing before he could put an actual sentence together)
  • When he wanted something as a baby: “Habit!” (instead of “have it”)

Some of his best quotes are actually interpretations of songs he hears on the radio. Here are a few fun ones:

  • “Go nothing, Go nothing!” – Kings of Leon’s “Notion” (instead of “So don’t knock it, don’t knock it”)
  • “You know that I could use some bad air!” – Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” (instead of “You know that I could use somebody”)
  • “Mommy, he’s singing about diarrhea.” (with a disgusted look on his face) – Breaking Benjamin’s acoustic version of “Diary of Jane”

Unfortunately, I haven’t been so good with writing down words that Biz says. I think it’s partly because he’s the second child and partly because Biz isn’t as verbal as G was at the same age. (However, Biz definitely has the facial expressions and hand talking down more than G did. Must be the Italian in him.) So, I thought I’d end this post with all the words I’ve deciphered from Biz at some point over the past few months that I can remember. Here goes – yay, mama/mom/mommy, dad/daddy/da, dog, woof, meow, up/uppy, moo, uh oh, bird, lolly (for lollipop), no, hi, hello, bye, nigh nigh (for night night), dat (for that), light, sssssss (snake sound), oo oo (monkey sound). Judging from his babbling, I have a feeling we’re going to have some pretty good quotes from him in about 3 1/2 years.

P.S. (3/3/10) I have to admit that I’ve come back to this post several times since I wrote it to add words I remember that Biz has said. I guess I’m not giving him enough credit for being verbal. Sure, some of these words have only been uttered once or twice and most have only been heard by me or Miss Lori. I hear them, though, and others will eventually.

2010
02/24
CATEGORY
Being a Mom
Fun
Milestones
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