Oh the desire to be different. At Kidsville Chris, a young man in his early twenties told me today that he doesn't want to go home to Tarrytown for Thanksgiving because he doesn't want to have to talk to his family about "getting a real job", etc. I told him parents who are older, like myself, feel the same way. We don't want to have to explain to our children what we are doing.
"You can't go home again" is the fabric of American life. We are always supposed to move on, move away, do better, be better. We are supposed to surpass our parents, not just in job, career, everything. It's a part of the American myth. So Chris, a young man who got his masters in biology has been working at Kidville while he applies for jobs. It seems like he'll wind up in the pharmecutical area. But even though Tarrytown is about 50 minutes outside New York city, as Chris puts it, "he worked so hard to get away, he doesn't want to go home". I have lived so many places I am starting to wonder what "home is" or who I am.
I have not lived in New york area since 82. That's 32 years ago. I have been in sunny Southern California, LA, since 82 when we moved to San Francisco. We bought on one of those anvil mortgages one of those house that was 4 stories with views of the city and the bay from every story. We paid $750,000 in 1982 and it's probably 10-12 million now. My job was to remodel this house which was the former South African Counselate with very little money. This was San Franscisco, Pacific Heights where the Getty's lived. I didn't want anyone to know but I painted the whole house inside myself. When the kids were in school I would go to the paint store and tell them to put a little more yellow, or red, or blue in the paint. As an artist I loved to mix paints. One day I went to this paint store on Divisadero and they were mixing the paint, adding a little more yellow or red to an already mixed gallon of paint and the top was not fully on and the paint started going all over the store. I often wonder if all the paint and paint remover I used over the years caused my Parkinsons!
So here I am in Carroll Gardens in a new apartment in a largely French section. It's a big apartment, Jordans paint 4000 a month for it, but getting the girls up and down is a nightmare.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Cobble Hill, Halloween, and the Twins Birthday!
Halloween is a big deal in Cobble Hill!
Jordan and I thought we had costumes for the girls-Gigi had this animal fur suit and Tess had a Lambs outfit. But when we took the girls to the park on Saturday we didn't know there was a parade. It seemed like hundred of families all waiting with their children dressed as princesses, fairies, cat's, an apartment building, a tiger, the cookie monster, and on and on with with expectations and strollers. A few parents were dressed up. Gigi, who is now walking around, had a little hat on that looked like a bumble bee and Tess was just sitting in the park watching everything.
It's great to see the young parents all excited and trying on new roles. Actually, it was almost a mob! There were so many strollers and parents the park was filled with them and they had a police man stop traffic on the street for the parade! We didn't go in the parade. The girls were tired and needed lunch. We are always on a short leash and Kidville never has any time on the weekends-they are too busy making 500 a pop for a birthday party!
Jordan and I thought we had costumes for the girls-Gigi had this animal fur suit and Tess had a Lambs outfit. But when we took the girls to the park on Saturday we didn't know there was a parade. It seemed like hundred of families all waiting with their children dressed as princesses, fairies, cat's, an apartment building, a tiger, the cookie monster, and on and on with with expectations and strollers. A few parents were dressed up. Gigi, who is now walking around, had a little hat on that looked like a bumble bee and Tess was just sitting in the park watching everything.
It's great to see the young parents all excited and trying on new roles. Actually, it was almost a mob! There were so many strollers and parents the park was filled with them and they had a police man stop traffic on the street for the parade! We didn't go in the parade. The girls were tired and needed lunch. We are always on a short leash and Kidville never has any time on the weekends-they are too busy making 500 a pop for a birthday party!
We moved!----Home Schooling and Sharing, Kidville and brats!
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!
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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