A Day at Home

I usually feel guilty about staying home from work unless I am so sick that I hardly know where I am, and just stay in bed, just barely responding to anything except the feel of cool, clean sheets.

For the past week I felt as if I've been dodging a cold or to be more accurate, a cold has been stalking me. So on Thursday I gave up. I stayed at home and as soon as I made the decision I felt better. I wasn't dying but I sure didn't feel good. But perhaps the most therapeutic part of my cure was being in the apartment alone. No husband. No child. Of course you're really never alone. I had Miss Murray and then there were innumerable comings and goings all during the day. The housekeeper, the grocery store delivery, the dog walker coming, the dog walker going, the housekeeper leaving to pick up Kate and then Kate was home.

But the bulk of my day was spent lying flat on my back on the bed. I looked at the ceiling, considered the folds in the green and white curtains, listened to the whosh of pneumatic brakes on the Madison Avenue bus, watched the motes of dust dance in the sun and became aware of the rhythms of the building. In Ian McEwan's book, Atonement, he describes a woman lying in bed with a migraine. She is immobilized with the pain that results of she speaks, or even lifts her head but she is super aware of everything around her. Well, I didn't have a migraine but I became so aware of the sounds laughter and conversation floating up from the street, the vibration of the elevator doors opening ad closing, and the whosh of water running behind the walls when a toilet was flushed. That part of Atonement was just brilliant.

My day at home was wonderful.

school days

Last night we went to the annual Friends open house for Middle School parents which gives us an opportunity to follow a sample school day of classes compressed into 2 hours but without incurring any homework. I've been doing this this for 7 years now and Arnie has been doing it for at least 5! (Eureka) and so we have made friends and enemies out of this group, that is,parents we like tremendously and those we don't like because they behave as if they belong to some kind of high school clique. But back to the main focus which is the quality of education that we think Kate is getting and a real emphasis at Friends on learning for its own reward, without a constant barrage of tests as the benchmark. Kinda nice. And the teachers seem to be very committed and diverse. I specially liked Kate's Science Teacher who admitted that his real goal is to turn his students into scientists.

In addition to her homework, Kate is also taking Chinese and test prep on the weekends. Add a couple of hours for soccer and the requisite chores at home like setting the table and this child is overworked. So she says.

Bringing Up Baby

I've tried twice before to post and discovered to my dismay that everything evaporated which i took as a sign that I should quit trying to blog and get back to my normal state of sloth.

Kate and I played monopoly this weekend and she has become really very very good at it. I usually win but this time I saw that with Alice's coaching, kate had become a very sophisticated player. She immediately advised me to borrow severl thousand dollars from the bank, take out a mortgage, set up a long term payment plan and build hotels. I must say that I was totally taken aback. This was not my game of Monopoly but what the hell, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Ironically it gave me the opportunity to demonstrate some basic economics to Kate like why the stock market tanked and what it means to buy sub prime mortgages. I even understood the subject myself. Modern living.

Chinese lessons and soccer completed my life as a suburban mom on Saturday and then Sunday we off for tutoring to help Kate prepare for the Hunter highschool entrance exam. I always hated tests and really wasn't very good at it. Something I didn't share with her because she loves this kind of competitive testing of what she knows. In retrospect I would have loved this kind of help and Kate's really lucky to have this kind of preparation which will stand her in very good stead with the Hunter test for sure but also for the SAT's and any other competitive test she takes.

After several months of facade construction at the Museum, I have newly renovated and uncovered windows in my office and the weather is so spectacular that I am positively thrilled. Soon i will be able to watch them blow up the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Last night we were able to have dinner on the roof for the second time in as many days. About 5 years ago i remember going to the Columbus Day parade thinking that I would die from the bone chilling cold. This weekend was warm and wonderful. And it continues.

Saturday

The Sky is Falling

Well chicken little the sky is falling. That's clear. Although it's still not clear in New York that people will be out selling apples tomorrow. Maybe the day after. The restaurants are crowded and we are all looking over our shoulders as we go about our day to day life. And the debate last night between the vice presidential candidates did little to make me rethink my doomsday scenario. I fear that like the Russians we will get the government that we deserve. What dopes they are. And what dopes we are not to have paid more attention as we swanned through the malls of life!!!

However my bright spot was taking Kate to school this morning. She is suddenly taking some care with her appearance. And today we out in the crisp October air wearing light jackets. Hers was an olive quilty jacket and she was wearing black flats. And my jacket is also an olive quilty jacket, and me too, I was wearing black flats. I think I always wanted to dress like twins, well maybe not like twins but like someone. That's perhaps one of the yearnings that only children have which is to see themselves in duplicate. But I remember seeing a young blonde type couple in France who were wearing matching blue checked shirts. Sounds not so great now. But at the time I thought it was very cool and so French. The thought must have lingered because I loved that Kate and I were wearing similar clothing and yet managed to look like our individual selves.