I WANT IN!!

What is it about humans and wanting to be absolutely everywhere, even places we don’t belong. It’s as if we have an inbuilt genetic need to seek out the prohibited, the dangerous, the unwelcoming, or even the ‘just none of your darn business’ areas, and of course we want in.

The funny thing is, what got me thinking about this was watching the King over the last few months in our kitchen – he’s like Yoda, okay, he's got a few pounds on Yoda, when it comes to studying human behavior. He is in cruiser mode now; he gets in that walker, gives me that look that says get out of my way or I will figure out how to move through you, and sets off like Magellan across the tile floor. Funny thing is, no matter how many things I give him access to, be it cupboards, drawers, toys, kitchen utensils, the King wants what he can’t have - but of course. The forbidden areas, the locked cupboards, the cleaning supplies, the oven. If you are a parent, you know the drill. What they have they don’t want, and what they don’t have, well, that is the Holy Grail.

As most of us know, this doesn’t change from the King’s age to mine (some of you are still in denial to this fact and it is why you can't seem to commit to anyone person for longer than three months; but that's another blog for another time). In fact, I almost think that with knowledge and ego, it gets worse over time. Suddenly wanting into the cleaning cupboard becomes wanting everything we don’t have: longer legs, the ideal job, a younger face, better hair, lover, car, you name it; cause what we don’t have is attractive, alluring, mysterious, and what he have is, in the King’s case, a wooden spoon that only makes one sound when you whack it against a highchair tray. And how dull is that?

And as predictable as the sun is going to set, the moment we gain entry or are given in to, and suddenly the world is our oyster, it dawns on us that it was all about the quest and not necessarily the prize. Haven't you ever tried to get into a club, restaurant or group at school (or what have you) and once you did, you quickly realized that being on the inside wasn't as great as you thought it would be; the food came out cold, the people were dull and laughed at their own jokes and the atmosphere was a whole load better on the bus ride over. And yet, for some of us it takes years to figure this one out. Hence, why so many industries are taking our money hand over fist – cause they know that if they keep us in the hunt for what we could have, we’ll keep coming back till it feels different. Ah yes, that old fallacy. 

So I caved in and gave the King access to one of the cupboards he was pining to get into - I find fatigue and surrender go hand in hand these days, and for now he seems happy enough to take out every pan that is in there. And of course, he bangs them on the floor with a victorious look on his face that suggests contentment…for now anyway.