suspending my disbelief

While I was watching the most excellent episode of Glee last night, I was very aware of my father-in-law's presence in the living room.  He was staying with us overnight and had graciously accepted a channel switch from sports to our favorite song-and-dance of the week.  (Truth be told, he was falling asleep on the couch when we first made the switch, and the change in sound disturbed his slumber... I bet he figured he'd be closing his eyes again soon.)  I was reminded of my first experiences watching this show last summer, when I was being my nitpicky self and wondering aloud about little details that didn't make sense or fit in- the improbabilities.  Why would a Spanish teacher/Glee Club Coach have his own gigantic office in a public school?  How is it that no student has ever brought a lawsuit against the knocking-kids-into-the-locker Sue Sylvester?  Why is every damn supposed teenaged student so frickin' beautiful and acne-free?!?  When hubby's dad remarked, "Oh, they sure do sing a lot, huh?" I was reminded of my questioning self back in the first few episodes.

Well guess what?  Watching Glee that way wasn't very enjoyable.  I bugged the crud out of myself.  So, I remembered that phrase I think I first heard in some high school English class-- "suspension of disbelief."  Yup, that's what you gotta do to fully embrace this incredible show, and quite frequently, most other forms of tv and movie entertainment.  (Ironically, this principle needs to be applied the strongest to "reality" television, but that's a whole 'nother post.)

So there I was, suspending my disbelief, and buying the fact that the piano player (who hubby lovingly refers to as "The Muppet") is always available to accompany anyone ready to sing a song at any time, along with the full student band who apparently have no other classes or activities they have to attend.  And then I got to thinking how this strategy might come in handy for my every day life.

Perhaps I need to suspend my disbelief that a child could make the same exact mistake time and time again, even with the assistance of reminders.  Maybe I could suspend my disbelief that for the tenth time in one morning, I'm repeating the mantra, "Stop shouting at each other!"  (Note the use of an exclamation mark denoting the fact that I say this in a raised voice.  Yup, I get it.)  It might be helpful to my sanity if I suspend my disbelief that laundry seems to be taking over my bedroom, literally going from a molehill to a mountain overnight. 

Okay, maybe 'suspending disbelief' isn't exactly what all these things are.  Could it be that almost 35 years into my life, 12.5 years into my marriage, 10 years into motherhood, that I still have a lot to learn about reasonable expectations??

I can't believe it.


Ignorantly yours,