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.
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.
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.
Sophie discovered Chloe’s mermaid costume the other day. And boy, was she excited. Being able to transform into a mermaid ranks almost as high as dressing up as a princess.
Our little one really liked that some of her belly showed. She thought that was quite cool. I thought it was borderline indecent. But that’s just because I’m getting old. What was potentially truly indecent was the halter top – because until we tied it just right, Sophie had a little too much booby action going on. Not that she particularly minded that, either.
Her teacher at pre-K told me today that she’s very quiet and shy in class. It’s only been a couple of days, so I’m not very concerned. Let’s face it, she’s been like that in group settings since she was an infant. She likes to observe. Except when she’s at home or with her family or friends – when she’s a clown. But in school or in an enrichment class, Sophie’s a different child. I’m interested to see what will happen with her as the year progresses, especially since she’s now in class full-time. I mean, this is a kid who dances, sings and runs around the house naked in pure joy. I hope that some of that carefree, happy-go-lucky attitude (without the naked) carries over into school.
Chloe came home with her brand-new math book today and tells me over the phone that she needs to put a book sock on it by tomorrow. We don’t keep book socks in the house. And what the hell kind of term is “book sock” anyway? What’s wrong with calling it what it is – a friggin’ book cover, for God’s sake.
I explained to Chloe that because both of her parents work, and because I got stuck at work late, we wouldn’t be able to make a shopping detour for a book sock by tomorrow’s deadline. Besides, we have a whole page of supplies to buy this weekend – why would I make a special trip for a sock?
I told her that back in the dinosaur days – when I was a kid – there was no such thing as a book sock. It was simply called a book cover. You could buy book covers in stores – they were usually coated in some saran wrap-type material that slowly started to peel off over time. But if parents didn’t want to spend the money, I explained, kids would cover their books using paper supermarket bags. Chloe was intrigued.
I promised my darling daughter that I would enrobe her book in the old-fashioned paper bag way tonight so that her newly covered book would be waiting for her in the morning. I also pointed out that unlike book socks, she’d be able to decorate the paper bag, too. That made her happy.
Chloe, the jaded 3rd grader who didn’t want me to take her photo because it wasn’t cool.
Both girls had good first days. Sophie saw lots of familiar faces from last year. Chloe is in a class with lots of kids she’s never seen before. And to top it all off, she’s in a new school!
Chloe’s impressed with her homeroom teacher, who is “really young.” Sophie still doesn’t know the names of her teachers. Chloe played soccer at recess today. Sophie has naptime. Chloe is going to have lots of homework everyday. Sophie will have coloring. Chloe can’t wait to walk to the bus stop by herself. Sophie would like nothing more than for us to take her to school every single day.
For us, the beginning of the year isn’t January 1st. The beginning of the year is the first day of school because that’s when we realize how quickly the girls are growing up.
We capped off the Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer with a walk on a local hiking trail. We had a great time. The girls had a field day with all of the fallen trees – they make for great balance beams and planks from which to jump.
Chloe was our trail leader. She followed the yellow-painted trunks and kept us from getting lost. She’s already planning our next outing on the blue trail – or as she prefers to call it, the indigo trail.
We met lots of different dogs on the way. Two of them were particularly friendly, chasing Sophie around in an effort to lick her. The mutts had chosen their perfect prey. Sophie wouldn’t stop running away from them, and they just loved running after her. She refused to listen to our advice to stand still and wait for the dogs to tire of her, probably because she was having too much fun.
By far the highlight of the hike was a large tree stump that provided the perfect springboard for jumping. The girls took turns on this one – with Chloe pretending to be a bird and Sophie wanting nothing more than to imitate her sister.
Sophie starts pre-K tomorrow and Chloe starts on Wednesday. We still don’t know who Chloe’s 3rd grade teacher is going to be, which is more frustrating for me than it is for her. New school, new teacher – you’d think the district would get its act together and make sure the notification arrives before the Labor Day holiday so that kids can spend part of the weekend getting a sense of who might be in their class. But no, that’d be too logical.
Next year, I’m going to plan to take a few days off the week school starts. I think it would be less stressful and more enjoyable if I didn’t feel the job pressures of the first post-summer work week in addition to everything that needs to be done for classes.
We decided to ring in the unofficial start of fall this weekend with an outing to the local miniature golf course. Chloe’s idea. Problem is that Chloe and miniature golf don’t get along very well.
I tried to teach her the Tiger Woods putting stance, but she wouldn’t listen. The photo pretty much captures her posture and her swing throughout the afternoon. Needless to say, she was not particularly successful getting the ball into the hole. And this frustrated her to no end.
Forgetting, perhaps, that she was the one who requested this outing, at one point she asked if we could go home because she was tired of missing. We were only at the 9th hole. We reiterated her need to imitate the Tiger swing and stance, and she then had a few glimmers of success, which she reluctantly admitted was due to the Tiger swing and stance.
The rest of the game was relatively uneventful. But if our Chloe thinks she’s going to talk us into taking her to play miniature golf in the near future, she has another thing coming. Not until she goes to Tiger Woods miniature golf training camp.
A Mom's Ramblings About the Marvels & Mishaps of Parenting, the Joys of Family Travel & the Writing Life
Yesterday was special mommy-Sophie day. Today was special mommy-Chloe-Grammy day. In NYC – to see “Billy Elliot.” 
