The Weekend

I kpet thinking all weekend that I had momentous things to write about but now that I have 3 minutes carved out of my day....it all seems pretty banal. I learned that work from one of Kate's vocabulary lists! Bravo for me.

Last week seemed crazy in its intensity with heavy work pressures for me and an "encounter" for Kate. She and Lile went to a theatre/circus performance and were bullied by several 11 year old boys who were sitting behind them at this afternoon performance for school groups. They pulled her hair, called the girls "chinks" -- a word that Lile had never heard -- and started to trash talk. I think Kate was furious butnot sure how to deal with boys other than to beat them to dealth but that seemed not possible because everybody was sitting in a theatre. The chaperones apparently missed the encounter and it wasn't until Lile's Mom got there that anything was done. Susan swung into action and was an amazing avenging angel who made people accountable. The girls were still steaming that night and me, too. But these are the encounters that we never want our children to have, although we know that they will. Our job is to let them know that stuff like this happens, it's unacceptable and to give them the tools to take care of themselves. "Throw 'em a beating" seems good to me except that boys are usually much strong. And giving them a tongue lashing sounds good but I'm never sure how effective that is. The irony for me is that I'm always predicting something awful will happen when we leave New York and sometimes it does. But not always. Sometimes these kinds of outright prejudcie and stupidity happen right here in my very own home town.

the rest of the weekend was fairly predictable. We took Miss Murray to Central Park on Saturday which is a most worthwhile investment. She gets to run off all her energy and as she continues to be more and more comfortable in her own skin, and with us, she has more and more energy. When she first came at the end of September
07, she was virtually comatose. Well, not comatose but so depressed as to seem boneless. Not now.

We went ice skating this weekend over at Bryant Park which has real ice as opposed to the Museum's rink which has fake ice. Well, Kate and Lile went ice skating while Susan, Arnie and I all watched from the warmth of some inside tables and chairs. Then I went off to challenge the shoppers and get a new Cuisinart at Macy's. I was a warrior on a mission because I hate Macy's and I hate Macy's even more when it's full of tourists and gaggles of kids all going to see Santa. Yuck. Got my severely reduced Cuisinart and got out! And then I made scones in my new cuisinart.Nearly severed a finger because my old Cuisinart was OLD and this one has much sharper blades.