Jeff came over today to fix some things in our new apartment. The bookcases needed to be secured against the wall so the twins don't pull them over on themselves, he needed to put up gates for the twins at the entrance door. It's another 3rd floor walk up, except it has two living rooms, a big kitchen, and 3 bedrooms and its four thousand a month! That's another blog!
But back to Jeff. He worked for the owner of our other brownstone where we used to live and Jordan would use him to put her air conditioner in, or secure a bookcase, etc. He'd come and chat and I knew his wife home schooled their kids. He usually works construction in the city during the day, and then he'd do odd jobs after that and on Saturday. He said he gets up at 4am to go to work, he works 6 days a week. Jeff is tall, 6'6", and of German descent. Everybody knows what everybody is here in New York. There are so many immigrants.
At any rate I was talking to Jeff about home schooling. They have a 15 year old boy, 9 year old girl, and 7 year old girl. I said "how can your wife home school your kids? Doesn't she get tired of it?"
He said that it was better than their going to the schools on Staten Island and that it only cost about 150 dollars to get a years program. I said, but how can she stand having the kids around 24 hours a day?
He said it was a lot of work for her, but that she wanted to do it. His fifteen year old is a great swimmer on a swim team, and a classical guitarist, and his one daughter loves art and does art projects all the time.
I said, "but your wife has so much power? I mean she's his whole world, his teacher and his mother?"
Jeff said that she could cause her son a lot more harm than he could do to her. He apparently went to a regular school for a short time and said that it was an ugly place, that guards checked kids bags and that it seemed horrible.
I wanted to know how they made their kids do their school work. He said that they knew that their father went to work every day and that it was just part of life, that they would have to do a similar thing some day. Jeff was putting in kid locks on the kitchen cabinets, and a gate to get into the kitchen because there is a step up to get into the kitchen and Jordan is worried that the girls will hurt themselves. So he was chatting as I was talking and making crepes. I used to always make crepes for all the grandkids (my oldest is 19 down to 6!). They would get a crepe and often one of our three dogs would very happily wait down below for the leftovers. All the dogs are gone-it was twenty years of Shitzus and Lasso Apso's.
Jeff sat down at the table and ate a couple of crepes, I felt they were a bit dull, but he didn't complain!
This concept of work and home schooling is fascinating. Most people I knew, myself included, loved school for the break you got. I would get sad on the days the kids had extra holiday's. What were we going to do? My youngest son, Michael, has always been fascinated with home schooling out in Los Angeles. A friend of his from college, Adam, whose kids are 4 and 6, his wife home schools the kids and Michael really admires it. He always talks about how well behaved they are and adjusted to life.
But how did he stand the children, or his wife stand them 24 hours a day? Jeff said that he worked 6 days a week and that his wife got Sunday off. He needed to see the kids and she needed a break. I wanted to know if he was religous? He said no, not particularly. Was he close to his two sister? No, he said. Why not, I asked. "Because my mother had a philosophy of divide and conquer." So we were pitted against one another. "That's sad" I answered. We chatted some more and he had to go on to his next job.
Actually what I didn't mention was how much Gigi liked Jeff, whereas Tess at first was scared of him. Gigi even tried to pick up his drill. It was a riot to watch. She held his hand and he was so gentle with her. The gentle giant, I thought!
But now its ten o'clock the girls were up last night, bedtime!
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