The Prince of Asia

Today I took the kids to the Natural History Museum to see dinosaurs.  After an afternoon at bone gazing and question answering we were HUNGRY.  Being on Weight Watchers and being really hungry is not a good combo- the general rules seem to go out the window as you decide that it is a great idea to drive over to nearby Koreatown to have dinner. I love me some Korean grill cooking.  Korean BBQ never sounds quite right to me- When I think about BBQ, I think of men slathering gooey red sauces on chicken legs or a ridiculously large piece of pig.  With Korean BBQ there is the little grill in the center of the table, on which one decently cooks pieces of beef, pork or chicken- delicately turning it with chopsticks.  This is nimble cooking, not some big slab of cow smoking on the coals with a dirty tank top wearing dude flipping it with a prong.  Despite the dainty little grill at the Korean BBQ restaurant a rather indecent amount of meat was consumed.  I am lucky that my other meals of the day were low in points because otherwise I would have felt even grosser then I do now.  But THIS is not the point of this blog- 

My son Oliver is incredibly cute.  He is actually also incredibly beautiful. He is a kind and gentle soul and thinks of others. He shares and will gladly give you his cookie if he thinks you might want it.  On top of all that he has a way of looking at people through his eyelashes with his head tilted ever so slightly down that makes pretty much everyone like him. People will always gravitate towards him. This blog is ALSO not about how gorgeous and wonderful I think my son is...but I will throw in some pictures to drive the cuteness home.

I read alot of books written by Asian writers. I don't know what it is about these books that I like so much but I really DO enjoy them.  One of my favorite authors is Gail Tsukiyama.  I think I first got into them way back when Memoirs of a Geisha was written. I friggin' LOVE that book.  I was also really into Japan as a kid and thought going for Sukiyaki was the coolest thing ever and that Whooping Cranes were snazzy birds. Anyway- Because I have read so many of these books I feel like I have a little bit of an understanding of Asian cultures. Sons are revered while, in most cases, daughters have very little importance.  So what the hell is this about you are wondering and how much weed have I smoked? actually none.

At the restaurant, I was struck by the amount of attention my son got from the waitstaff.  I was trying to figure out if they just thought he was cute or if it was also because he was a boy.  Lulu didn't get the same attention and as far as I am concerned, she is just as adorable.  The amount of attention wasn't just a few ooo's and aws but was the waiter bringing different waiters over, yammering in Korean and looking at him and mussing his hair. They really waited on him too and listened intently when he spoke. It was very nice and my head swelled with pride but it also verged on almost weird.  While I'm stuffing myself with meat and the waiter with the strangely unkorean name of Chris is helping Oliver take his sweater off and smoothing down his hair and wiping the meat juice off his hands I am trying to imagine what was going through Lulu's head.  She compares everything between her and Oliver. It is like a big contest.  At the Korean BBQ Oliver was clearly "winning".  I seriously wouldn't have been surprised if they gave him a present before we left or maybe a crown.  AND, I kid you not, after I left my credit card on the table to pay, when they brought it back they gave it to him. I, seriously, just don't know what to make of it and in my little head I am skimming through hundreds of pages of stories set in Asia that might answer this for me.  It made me wonder about how females must feel in these countries. And then I thought of bitchy ol' Tiger mom whose book I have NOT read even though she IS Asian. I can't imagine being a mom like her-  I am thinking of of my husband's mother who always asks if our kids were the cutest ones in a room. I am thinking she would have loved this. So what is the point of this blog? I guess there really isn't one. Maybe I just wanted to gloat.  I do feel bad for my little Lulu though.  I could never chose one over the other- nor would I ever treat one kid better then their sibling.  

Today at the farmer's market we ran into my therapist and afterwards in the car Lulu said in a very matter of fact way "I think I need to go in and speak to Barbara because of all the lying and cutting my hair and biting my friend. I shouldn't be doing these things. I need to talk to Barbara about it because she really understands me" This coming out of a 43 pound 7 year old. Now if that isn't cute...

photo by Laurie Bailey   April 2009