I am convinced that Sophie should be the next winner of the annual Gap casting call. How can they not love her curls and her face? I need to find the perfect photo to submit. Family and friends, help me, please!
I love this photo, but it doesn’t show off her Shirley Temple curls enough. If you have any photos of Sophie that you’d like to contribute, please send them to me. I’ll be combing through our pictures and taking new ones over the next couple of weeks.
During class today (is she bored already?), Chloe started jotting down the first sentences of potential novels. I’ve reproduced them below. Needless to say, I think Chloe may have a future as the writer I’ve always wanted to be. See for yourself. I guarantee that you’ll be duly impressed. No spelling mistakes, either, I might add.
**********
Jack and Jennifer walked on and on until they could walk no longer and the soles of their feet were aching with pain.
*********
And with one final sickening lurch the boat tipped.
*********
Mary was walking up a mountain when she tripped, fell and tumbled into a cave so dark she felt like she would never see daylight again.
The girls weren’t exactly playing Miss Mary Mack. Chloe invented a little clapping game that she was trying desperately to teach Sophie. Sophie didn’t quite get it. But Sophie didn’t want to give up. The photo is deceptive because it gives the impression that the two sisters were actually getting along. But after about 5 seconds, Chloe lost her patience and Sophie got frustrated.
Chloe then turned to me to give Sophie a demonstration. It went pretty well until Sophie started to get agitated because she was sitting on the sidelines. It must be hard to be the little sister. I don’t know what that feels like, having lorded over and tortured my little bro when I was a kid. But my guess is that being the younger sibling pretty much sucks (although, because Sophie is the little one, she sometimes get a little extra attention).
Sophie just asked about a missing toy that she suddenly remembered after about a year. I think I threw it out six months ago. “We have to find it,” she lamented. For once, I kept my mouth shut.
Yesterday was special mommy-Sophie day. Today was special mommy-Chloe-Grammy day. In NYC – to see “Billy Elliot.”
Let’s just say that I hit 2 for 2 this weekend. The little one loved “Cinderella” and Chloe loved “Billy Elliot.” In no particular order, Chloe loved the cursing (there was quite a bit of it), the male ballet dancer’s tight leggings (“Mom, you can see the outline of everything!”), the dancing and the loud music.
I was worried she’d be bored – but it turned out I had nothing to worry about. We had a lot of fun. And I can’t wait to go to the theater again.
Sophie and I had a lovely mommy-daughter day with our neighbors. My friend has a daughter Sophie’s age and we took the girls to see “Cinderella.” Not the saccharin-sweet Disney version of Cinderella, but a terrific fractured fairy tale version of the story, in the form of a puppet show at the New Victory Theater performed by Shona Reppe Puppets.
I was a little apprehensive that Sophie would react negatively to the show, since the only Cinderella she knows is the blond-haired cartoon manifestation that makes her think of princesses and pretty dresses, and makes me want to puke. There was no need to worry, however. The Cinderella we saw today was irreverent and very, very funny.
Using a table with a drawer (Cinderella’s room) and cutouts on the surface that served as the front door, the fireplace, the dog house and the evil stepsisters’ bedroom, the set was simple yet incredibly inventive. Cinderella was a marionnette-like puppet. The puppeteer’s hands – covered in two different-colored gloves – played the roles of the evil stepsisters. There was no stepmother, only a stepfather who was alluded to in a bits of dialogue but never seen.
Sophie loved it. She laughed and clapped, and laughed some more. It was a great day.
This is how people used to make smoothies before blenders. Actually, smoothies didn’t exist before blenders, so this is how people would have made smoothies before blenders. Needless to say, it wasn’t a pretty sight. The entire counter and the innocent fruit in the adjacent basket were all covered in a fairly unappetizing mix of yogurt, milk and fruit chunks by the time Chloe was done hammering on her concoction.
She showed us her firm muscles after she was done. It was a good workout. Unfortunately, the smoothie – well, not so good. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t really live up to its name.
The other night, it was a lesson in sexual reproduction. OK, not really a lesson. More of a 2-minute “shit, I can’t believe she’s asking about this now” kind of lesson.
Today was the big day. Chloe walked to and from the bus stop by herself for the first time.
A couple of minutes after she left, I went outside to the sidewalk to keep an eye on her. She must have sensed my presence, even though she was more than a block away, because she turned around and waved. She turned around again less than 30 seconds later to shoo me away.
So I hid behind our holly tree and spied on her. And made sure she made it to the stop safe and sound. You can bet I’ll be spying at least for the rest of the week. The bus stop is on our street, three short blocks away – it can’t be more than 1/4 mile from the house, if that much. So far, however, she’s the only kid walking to the stop by herself. And there are lots of kids there. Even the 4th graders are still accompanied by a parent.
A recent article in the NY Times discussed parents’ reluctance to let their children walk to school or to the bus stop by themselves. And I was talking to a friend today about this very issue. In my mind, there’s something magical about a kid gaining independence, whether it be in learning how to ride a bike or walking to the bus stop alone. And if you don’t allow children to grow in that way, you end up raising a kid who is stifled, sheltered, inexperienced and scared – not to mention at risk for rebellion later on.
Chloe was proud as can be that she’s able to walk herself to the bus. And we’re proud of her.
I really thought we’d have at least a couple of more years before this talk. Let’s just say that tonight’s conversation, if you can call it that, did not go quite as I would have imagined.
Our outing this weekend took us to Central Park, where the girls climbed lots and lots of rocks. They also shared germs over a disappointingly tasteless, overpriced lollypop.
Chloe had me swing her on the tire swing at one of the playgrounds, but I apparently didn’t do it properly. She was nauseous for about 1/2 hour afterwards.
After a quick picnic, we continued with our explorations. Ended up at the small lake where the remote-controlled boat aficionados show of their skills. Chloe discovered the joys of cracking open acorns with a rock; Sophie discovered that she could scare pigeons by throwing acorns at them. I’m telling you, between her desire to step on ants, and her newfound talent for using birds as moving acorn targets, we may have a future psychopath on our hands.
A Mom's Ramblings About the Marvels & Mishaps of Parenting, the Joys of Family Travel & the Writing Life
