Thursday, February 15, 2007

Mission Accomplished … for now

It was V-P Day in the Guarino household yesterday. You remember V-E Day and V-J Day to commemorate the victories in Europe and over Japan . Well, last night brought the victory over P – literally.

We had a parade, we had some treats, and we had a boisterous party for the reluctant potty-trainer.

Mrs. G employed a trick we all knew from college and old “MASH” episodes and it worked like a charm. She had some little toys in a bowl of warm water. Put the boy on the pot, let him play with the toys in the warm water for a minute or two and … well, the rest is history.

Now, to continue the pained war analogy, I don’t exactly see this as an armistice. This is much more like our current wartime situation. Last night was probably a lot more akin to Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” moment in the silly flight suit on the aircraft carrier.

But I won’t be hanging any banners or declaring an end to major combat operations. I know the insurgents are out there. I know they are well armed. I know there is much more fight to come.

Our problem is, we are a bit Bushian in our plans for an exit strategy. We believe that we have the will, the troops and the patience to wait out the insurgents and win the day. Will there be bumps along the way? Sure.

But we are not so Bushian in our diplomacy. We have tremendous support from our allies, we won’t hesitate to change course if needed and we are stockpiling weapons at our disposal.

Still, my perspective, as one of two Deciders, is this: Will he figure the damn thing out before he goes to college? As long as that answer is an unqualified ‘yes,’ I’ll sleep well.

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