2 years later

It's a bit past midnight here in Seoul, tired and groggy from traveling from Beijing. I have pictures and stories to tell from Beijing, but for now just a short story before hitting the sack.

On the 13 hour flight from SFO to Incheon, I saw this little Korean boy, probably around 18 months old, walking down the aisle towards me. He stopped by my seat, smiled at me, stared like little kids do, processing whatever they tend to process, and kept going down the aisle. His mom walked about 4 paces behind him. Then the boy made a U-turn and walked down the aisle again, back to wherever he started from. His mom turned around and continued to walk 4 paces behind him. This boy must have repeated this runway walk no less than 25 times. And every single time, his mom just walked behind him. I started to think, "What is this mother's threshold for monotony?"

I then began to think about how mothers are just a different breed. They do all these little things that their kids and their husbands have no clue about. I guess only they and God know. And of course, as a therapist I think about random things that might help promote relational health and intimacy, especially amongst couples. Like, what if a husband were to increase his capacity to notice and to express appreciation for what a mother does by 5%, saying things like this to his wife: "All the little things you do as a mom, do you know how hot that is?" For those that can't speak about hotness without blushing, you may substitute the word hot with holy. Comme tu veux. 10 dollars says most women will feel a stronger spike with the former, though... :)

But I'm on vacation, so enough work-related talk. I shall leave you with this photo and caption, which I heartily endorse.

(Photos and notes from Beijing soon! In the meantime, you can read my archival posts on the right)