In Defense of Shannon and Sayid

If you're not a Lost fan, then you might want to skip this one.  If you are a Lost fan, odds are good you'll never see this post, but I still feel compelled to voice my opinion.

I've read a few blog posts about last night's finale.  Most of the frequent writers appear to have really enjoyed it.  The comments show a mixed bag of reactions.

There's no mixed bag here.  I loved it.  I found it to be very satisfying ending to a series I've really enjoyed over the years. While I've enjoyed the various stories, I'll admit that it's more about the characters for me.  These are characters I've come to love in all their human frailties. 

The one thing that everything I've read that everyone seems to agree on is the Sideways world ending for Shannon and Sayid.  They hate it.  Oh, where's poor Nadia?  Poor Nadia is where she's supposed to be as far as I'm concerned.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Nadia. I just don't feel that she was Sayid's one true love. Nadia was Sayid's childhood friend, his victim, and his wife. He idealized her, and he felt guilty about what he'd done to her when he worked as a torturer for the Iraqi Republican Guard.  He had Nadia on a huge pedestal built of childhood dreams and guilt.  As fun as it might be to pine for her, it's not real love.

Shannon's short tenure on the show showed a spoiled rich girl who expected everyone to wait on her and cater to every whim. To call her unlikeable is to be kind.  Then something unexpected happened, Shannon started growing up.  It was brief, too brief, but we saw Sayid and Shannon connect.  Each knew the worst of the other, yet love started to grow.  I hated Shannon at the beginning, but loved seeing this turnaround.  She was becoming a mature human being capable of putting another first, and then she was shot.

Sayid's true love was referenced often, and everyone assumed it was Nadia.  Seeing him married to her during his time back in the "real" world cemented that belief for many.  We didn't really see too much of their relationship with each other until sideways world.  Once again, Nadia was the dream, not his reality.  Would Nadia have married his brother if they were soulmates?  Would Nadia's first reactions be to send Sayid into harm's way to protect her way of life, if they were soulmates?  Would Nadia's first reactions be to question what Sayid had done after she sent him to fix things, if they were soulmates?  Wouldn't she believe in him? Trust him?  Wouldn't she know that he would only act in defense?  She would, if they were soulmates.

When FLocke aka Smokey offered Sayid the chance to have his wish come true, to be reunited with his love, everyone assumed Nadia.  I hoped for Shannon.

Sayid deserved a flawed love who knew, accepted, and loved him.  He did not deserve to be constantly tested and found wanting by his love on a pedestal.

The reunion that got to me the most was actually Sawyer and Juliet, but Sayid and Shannon was my close second.

Happy Mother's Day

Dinner with my two favorite people.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Back Track

I'm going to backtrack a little on my last post on one item.  I'm not so sure that I'm excited about Guji Guji.  This book was on a list of books people were recommending for adoptive families that Rumor Queen was putting together on her blog.  Several people mentioned Guji Guji.

I looked for it on Amazon, but it's out of print and ridiculously expensive there.  I did, however, find it at a very low price on eBay.  I ordered it last week, and it arrived on Tuesday.  I read it quickly in the car as we were on our way out when we got the mail and thought it was cute.

Last night, I read it to Sera as her bedtime story.  I didn't care for it much on the second read through.  It's the pretty standard tale of a mama duck sitting on her nest.  One of the eggs is much larger than the others, but she doesn't notice it.  When the eggs hatch, three ducklings and a crocodile are born.  They become a loving family.  So far, it's all good.  Three crocodiles appear and inform Guji Guji that he is not a duck; he is a crocodile.  They are portrayed as the evil villians of the story.  They practically bully Guji Guji into helping them trap and eat the ducks.  Guji Guji, of course, finds a way around their plan and protects his duck family. 

On the surface, it's pretty standard.  Crocodiles are pretty evil if you're a duck.  I liked the way mama duck loved all her children regardless of their differences.  My concern is the message that anyone who looked like Guji Guji was scary and bad. 

Tell me, am I overreacting?  I'm not sure if I am or not.  On the one hand, ducks would think crocodiles are scary and bad.  They eat them.  On the other hand, I don't want Sera to get the message that only the duck (us) family is good and that crocodiles (Chinese people) are bad.

Why Am I So Different?

I knew this question would come some day, and some day soon, but I still was caught a little off-guard. One of Sera’s favorite television shows is Sid the Science Kid on PBS. He has a certain turn of phrase and cadence that Sera copies now when she asks questions. She had it when she asked this one Monday afternoon.

I hesitated for a few seconds as I tried to figure out what exactly she was asking. I don’t want to overwhelm her with information she’s not old enough to process yet, so I asked her how she was different. She shrugged. I asked if she was different from her friends at school. She nodded. I asked her if she was different from me. She nodded again. I asked her if she could tell me what was different. She shrugged.

I explained that everyone was different. We all had things that were different from other people and things that were the same. I told her that her eyes and hair were different from mine because she was born in China. She immediately argued that our hair was the same. I agreed that we both had brown hair, but I showed her how my hair is wavy and her hair is straight. We also talked about people having different color hair.

She then changed the conversation to tell me she had received an invitation to the ball at the palace and took off to change her dress.

She is a very diverse pre-school, but she is the only Asian child in her room. There are a few other Asian children there, but they’re in the baby room and the 2 year room. They actually just moved here from China. One of the teachers told me about them, but I haven’t seen or met them yet. I’d say her room demographics are pretty close to my school’s, about 50% Caucasian, 30% Latino, and 20% African American.

On Tuesday, she started talking about how she’s a big girl now and shouldn’t have a baby seat any more in the car. She should have a big girl seat. We explained that her seat isn’t too small yet, and it’s safer than a booster. We’re not ready to move her. Her car seat is good to 65 pounds. I’m betting she could technically sit in it until middle school. We won’t be that cruel, but she’s just finally broken the 30 pound mark. She was 30 lbs, 5 oz at her well child check last Friday and 38”. That just seems small to me to switch her to a booster. I like the safety of the 5-point harness vs. shoulder belt.

Later that evening, she told me that she wanted to be bigger than me. I told her that she would never be bigger than me (thank God!), but that she was growing and getting bigger the way she was supposed to.

I think the Tuesday conversations are directly related to Monday’s question. She is starting to notice that she’s smaller than her friends and her eyes are different. Her skin tone isn’t a factor because she’s exposed to such a range that she doesn’t feel different there. In a stroke of perfect timing, a book I bought on eBay arrived yesterday that deals with some of these differences, Guji, Guji. I do think she’s entering a normal stage of development, one where she is starting to be more aware of things around her. I need to make sure my development keeps up with hers.