A New Strain of FOMO

In my immediate family, we have a disease. My mother, who has a severe case, passed it on to nearly all her children. It has been unnamed for years but recently, thanks to the popularity of internet acronyms, it finally has identification. It's called FOMO, or "fear of missing out"

You may think I'm kidding, but you can Google it and read all about it. Or all you have to do is attend a get-together at my parent's house and you'll see exactly what this disease is and how strongly it runs in our veins. We can't handle to miss out on part of the action or conversation. My mother, being the worst of all, refuses to leave the room if there is something interesting being said. And if she does have to leave, she'll say, "Don't say anything important while I'm gone!" This is typically followed by my father waiting until she's left the room to say loudly with a smirk on his face, "Wow! What an interesting and exciting thing!" My mother then responds from the other room with a "Paul...." in her classic warning voice.

 Nayeli with my parents last Thanksgiving

And as I mentioned, this disease has been passed onto me. In my marriage it typically causes the most discord when Ben finishes a phone conversation that I didn't hear but am interested in knowing about. Here's an example of how the conversation might go:

Ben: I talked to my friend today.

Me: Great. How is he? What did he say?

Ben: I don't know... he's doing... good.

Me: Good. What else?

Ben: Well... life is good. He's fine.

Me: Great. But why? What's happening to him? What's new?

Ben: I don't remember. 

Poor Ben. He gets an interrogation. At times, it can cause me to practically loose my mind. Luckily, since we married, Ben has accustomed himself to remember conversations better. It's an effort of which I'm extremely appreciative.

 

But now the problem has magnified. We have recently discovered that Nayeli not only carries the FOMO gene, but also FOOMO. This is a newly discovered strain of FOMO and stands for "fear of others missing out". Don't Google it- Ben and I named it ourselves. But it truly exists and is just as real as FOMO.

We first knew that Nayeli had FOOMO when I left her with a friend one day while I ran some errands. They watched a movie together, and although my friend's eyes were on the screen the entire time, Nayeli tapped her "every few minutes throughout the whole movie" and pointed to the screen. Luckily my friend thought it was hilarious. I guess she understood that Nayeli just wanted to make sure that she wasn't missing out on anything.

Since then I've noted that she's constantly tapping us or grunting (while pointing) to make sure we don't miss out. Sometimes she will even turn my face to make me look at something. But the most common method is pointing. Observe.

 Oceanside Beach

 Sauvie Island

 My personal favorite. Sometimes there are not only one, but two things she wants to show me.

So what to do? Nothing but enjoy the ride. Overall, it's very endearing and I like it. And one day, when she has phone conversations I want to know about, she'll be the ideal subject of my interrogations. People with FOMO love talking to people with FOOMO and vice versa. We are the perfect pair.

January 2013, Utah