Other online random musings

I am still waiting for my brainwave regarding our "China Strategy".... Then I saw this online:

Top lawyers know that, while most of their colleagues look forward to relaxing at home at the end of the day, the highest-achieving ones do not focus on when one day ends and another begins. They look forward to the firm reception or foundation meeting at night because they are acutely aware that a little extra involvement is what moves the ordinarily competent attorney into the extraordinary, top attorney column. Even when not working, the top attorneys remain available and on call, considering the interests of their employers and communities at all times.

If it sounds like too much work, think again. Top attorneys don't view their involvement as work as much as they do a service for the people and causes they find most compelling. They recognize involvement as an indispensable component to staying on top in their careers.

What hogwash.

It is this kind of thinking that forces us to go and grin and bear it at all these annoying social events where everyone checks their blackberry under the table and their watches to see when it is polite to get the heck out of there. I seriously doubt that gets you noticed as a "top lawyer".

The other parts of the article were not too bad. Like saying that you need a consistent delivery of competent advice. But that doesn't really distinguish you from the hordes of other lawyers out there.

I found this other article much better.

Must. Resist....the default position - Omnivore

Blogging silence whilst the internet was down for a while at home.

So here is a thought that has been occupying me for a while.

Over the last 5 years, I have moved slowly away from my original carnivore status and now lean towards omnivore/herbivore. I do source food from as ethical and sustainable a choice as available in Beijing.

Still... we are going for our summer vacation in France, and I have an inkling that the great food we will be tempted with will multiply our carbon footprint to more than we can afford to buy credits for.

Speaking of credits - I have a fairly Catholic approach to our family's greenhouse emissions. Since my work largely revolves around "sustainable/ greentech investments" in China, I am a big believer in emission reduction projects and therefore carbon credits. Sure it may be a system of "buying penances" and you may not be able to ever fully off-set environmental damage. However my view is a pretty prosaic one - what other workable commercial alternative do you have? I really believe that this one of the cases where Good must not be sacrificed in pursuit of Excellent.

The family resemblance

It is in the laugh...I am trying to get a photo of Alex laughing, but actually at certain angles, Alex looks a lot like Fabien when he was really small.

Especially when she is laughing, and this little girl does like laughing alot.

Not so hard to do when your older sister is a bit of a comedian.

Looking Older huh?

I am glad that Sophie's school puts up weekly photos for us to look at, and see what the kids are doing. This way I know that Sophie loves the dog that her friend Louise brought for Show and Tell and that they made a cardboard airplane for the class project !

The photos are a great progression to see how she is growing !

First Holiday away from Alex - in Tokyo !!

Alex is 7 months old next week, and already Fab and I are planning their get-away weekend away from both kids. We've already spent time together away from Sophie, so I think Sophie isn't too fussed about it. But I wonder how Alex will react?

It's great because my mom will come to baby sit just before we dash off. Definitely one of the benefits of being close by to the grandparents !

I am actually really glad that I work. It sometimes is stressful because of course Murphy's law says that the urgent deadlines always come up when the kids have a stomach bug and one parent is traveling. That's also part of the fun I think.

And I actually think that being a parent has helped me a lot in dealing with difficult people at work, because when somebody is throwing a tantrum, I find that many methods which work with toddlers also work with adults !

The day I traded my dad for a yogurt

We don't eat refined sugar at home. Ever. That's how paranoid we are as parents. It's not so much the sugar and coloring that I am worried about as the fact that I see what happens whenever she goes to children's birthday parties and all the children run amok, loaded up with artificial sugars and chocolate.

Sophie does get desert on weekends at home with her parents, but even then it's limited to yogurt with some raisins stirred in.

The story that has to go down into our family books is this one (translated from French)

"Sophie, it's bedtime for you and Alex. We only have time for one thing so you have to choose. Either you have another yogurt with Mama or else, Papa can tell you a story."

Sophie thinks about it for all of 30 seconds and then says "Yogurt. Please."

"So no story with Papa?"

"No, it's okay Papa, just yogurt, no story"

"okay - Good night Sophie"

Clearly the way to this girl's heart is via the stomach. She really meant it when she said she wanted the yogurt instead of Papa. There she is with the fruit loop necklace made in school.

Note to Alex on the eve of your 6 month "demi" birthday

Dear Alex,

What a whirlwind ride! It feels like just yesterday that I was running around trying to close projects before your (planned) arrival, so you obligingly delayed your arrival for a couple of days and came to cheer us up after the dire news of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

It seemed like a trend. From your rocket-speed birth to your remarkable ability to take care of yourself, you have been such a cheerful and delightful bundle. We went for 2 months of yoga classes together, and the teacher commented that she had never heard you cry. You really are the most blissed out baby I know of.

This of course, does not ever stop you from being a cheeky little monkey. Your favorite trick for a really long time was peeing on us every chance you got. I promise that I could hear you laughing after that.

We're probably much more relaxed parents with you, and you reward us with your beautiful smile so often. We probably don't deserve it but only very little children and very large dogs have so much to teach us about such intense and unguarded love that make your parents go weak at the knees at the responsibility of not screwing this all up in the habit of human nature to do so.

You are sitting happily now, and rolling enthusiastically around on your carpet. We are trying to figure out how to balance your need to explore by grabbing random things and shoving them into your mouth, against your sister's desire to play with very small and dangerous little toys.

I had a terrible nightmare last night that you asphyxiated on a small button that had come off my shirt whilst I was nursing you and I had to give you CPR. I woke up completely in tears, and rushed to your room and spent the rest of the night checking that you were still breathing. The next morning when the sun came up, you gave me another one of your huge smiles and I knew that even if I was just being insanely paranoid the thought that I might lose you (even in a hypothetical dream) makes the back-ache that comes sitting next to your bed on the floor all night worth it.


Your mama

Sharon

So when are we having the test? Duh!!

Some people have been asking me exactly what goes on in a toddler IQ test. Like I repeat it is very inaccurate. But basically I understand that they are testing for a couple of things like how your kid puts sentences and logical thought process together when solving the puzzles, and the length of attention span. Sophie scored higher than her physical age for a few of these things.

As for the details, well, to be honest, I thought those puzzles were there to distract Sophie because she was playing so quietly with them the whole time. I actually asked the doctor "so when are we doing the IQ test?" and was quite surprised when he said "we've already done it - congratulations, your daughter is very bright!"

I didn't pay attention to those puzzles because the doctor was talking to me (he was asking background questions like when Sophie was born, what was her due date, when she passed various developmental milestones etc..) So because I was busy talking to him, I honestly have no idea what Sophie was actually doing, but whatever she was doing was clearly making sense to the doctor, who was also observing and making notes of what she was doing.

I don't think that's earthshaking except that it puts more pressure on me as a parent, trying to strike a balance between creating an interesting and intellectually stimulating environment, and not wanting to put any pressure on Sophie, who is pretty sensitive to these things.

Little things like wondering when I should start teaching her how to read. She shows a great deal of interest in books and words, so I guess I should stop putting it off before she really freaks me out by learning how to read by herself or something equally astounding.