where art thou dr. spock?

i don't know what to write about anymore. my days are mundane, my nights, toksah cerita la. i've memorized the damn tv guide dari depan sampai lah ke belakang. and after so many social faux pas (e.g. mengumpat person a to person b only to realize, waaay into the thrashing session, that the two are actually closely connected!!), i've kept to the mantra, "if you got nutin' smart to say, then shut it." my life stories and my thoughts, i felt, was not worth sharing.

then bindi re-surfaced into my life. and my brain went into an overdrive.

i've never been a big fan of steve irwin. i first saw him on tv years ago, animated fellow that croc hunter. i don't know much about his wildlife conservation work but through my equally animated friend z (he loves to imitate steve's on-camera 'crikey' antics), i understood that mr. irwin meant a lot of good things to a lot of living beings. his tragic passing on september 4th last year, brought a public outpouring of sorrow once reserved for the princess of wales. "even creatures, great or small, grieved because they've lost the best friend they ever had." i didn't watch much of his memorial service, but i managed to catch irwin's very own 'wildlife warrior' at her best. i fell in love, in awe, instantly.

now, four months later, bindi is back. i watched her on ellen, access hollywood and i even stayed up late just to see her shine on larry king live. with proud mom terri by her side, bindi is all gusto and adult composure, talking about her hero and passion for continuing his wildlife legacy. now this kid is eight and she just lost her beloved daddy but listening to her talk about making the world, especially the animal world, a much better place, you can't help but wonder about the kind of parenting she had and continues to have.

how do you raise a child to be so thoughtful, kind, strong and smart like bindi? i know a number of children who are wise beyond their years but most who are gifted this way, i have to say, are 'socially inept.' either they are shy or insolent or just completely too cutesy they become irritating after a while. it's almost as if smartness comes at a heavy price -- no parent, no matter how much time and good they put into a child, can ever have that 'balanced' package. at least not when they're eight.

i hope to have a kid in this lifetime but how do i do it right? of course no one's perfect but don't you want your child to have bindi-like qualities? to beam with pride and not cringe everytime your little 'angel' opens his/her mouth. to be able to let your tiny tot run loose into the world without having to apologize profusely to the entire hospital waiting room coz' your 'precious' is sprawled on the floor wailing and with his pants down. to know that she is not always about 'things' but sometimes about thoughtfulness. how, do tell me, do you raise a child that's on the mark?

i know they've cloned dolly the sheep but can they clone bindi the sweet?

*go to youtube.com and type 'bindi on ellen degeneres' for latest footage. problems uploading