“I don’t want to do this anymore!!” he cried to no one in particular. “And you can’t make me!!!”
The parent gene looked over the scene, calm and bemused.
“Do you want to eat? Do you like living here?”
The tantrum paused. “Well, yeah.”
“Then you better keep doing what you’re doing.”
“But I don’t wanna!”
“What would you rather do?”
“I don’t know,” he said uncertainly.
“Do you want to play a game?”
“Yeah …”
“Do you want to watch TV?”
“OK …”
“Do you want to play your guitar?”
“Sure.”
“Do you want to clean the house?”
“Actually, yeah! It’s all dusty and full of dog hair and stuff.”
“And why don’t you do those things?”
“Well, first I have to finish writing in my journal.”
“And then you have 12 hours or more before bedtime. Why don’t you do those things?”
“I don’t know. I don’t wanna.”
“Ah, the ever-present dontwannas. The power of inertia is intense, isn’t it?
“I like sitting here.”
“Doing nothing.”
“What’s wrong with that?” he cried defiantly.
“Nothing in and of itself. Sometimes a body has to stop and rest.”
“Right!”
“But then you have to get up and do something, if you want a nice house and a good meal.”
“I suppose …”
“What will you do first?”
“Have another cup of coffee?”
“Seriously, now.”
“Well, the dog really wants to go for a walk.”
“What do YOU want to do?”
“Sit here and keep writing,” he laughed.
“Uh huh. You really are trapped in an inertia bubble. Give yourself a push, then report back to me.”
“What if I don’t feel like pushing?”
The parental gene sighed. “Then pull something. I don’t care. Just do something.”
“Fine.”
