she quietly listened to music in the car ride to in-laws (moya’s parents) then she browsed the new yorker. for the few hours before cousins arrived she asked, every 5-10minutes, “when will my cousins be here?” and every answer was unacceptable, “that’s too long, I want them to be here NOW.” since declaring, a week ago, that she is not a vegetarian anymore, she tried eating turkey and spat it out. a gingerbread house was constructed and flamboyantly decorated before collapsing like liquefaction and earthquakes. she arranged all of the large stuffed animals around her bed so they could watch her sleep. I turned off her “totoro” nighlight and tucked it in her bed. in the morning she sleepily removed it, turned it on, placed it back on the ledge, grunted something (probably “who moved and turned off totoro?!?!!”) and went back to sleep. she’s a fun kid.
Entries from November 2008
A perfect day
November 17, 2008 · Leave a Comment
On Saturday, November 15,we skipped the Prop 8 protest rally and march and went on a school tour (the neverending kindergarten research project — trying to find the best 7 schools for us out of 70+ in San Francisco) with Lucy and her friend Lulu (and Lulu’s moms). Lucy and Lulu thought the tour was dull. They put on princess nightgowns and told secrets in the playground nextdoor.
In the afternoon, Lucy and I took a tricycle ride (her on trike, me walking) to Cliff’s Variety store in the Castro so she could spend her $22 on whatever she wanted. She picked a pirate and some treasure. We ran into some friends – Fred, Minne, Jonathan, Sarah, Esther – and then headed over to Eureka Rec Center where Lucy and Sarah balanced on the teeter totter:
We noticed police shutting down streets near the playground and decided to head home and see what all the fuss was about — it was a sit-in in the middle of 18th/Castro protesting Prop 8:
When we got home, my flyclear card had arrived in the mail – I’m officially not a terrorist!
Then we scampered off to Paul’s birthday party in his backyard with a fire pit and chili (not sure if it was really vegetarian or not but I was polite and just ate it) and yummy s’mores and, according to Lucy, “fun creepy paths” to wander around the dark garden. There was chitchat at the party about prop 8, about someone who’s getting married soon, and I did my best to try to avoid it. I still can’t stop the tears sometimes when people talk about prop 8 and I don’t want to be pitied by straight people. I was slightly relieved when Lucy pulled me away to go play somewhere. Sometimes a child’s whining is a good excuse to get out of an awkward adult conversation.
Categories: castro · happiness · kindergarten · playground · preschoolers · prop 8 · san francisco
So Proud
November 17, 2008 · 1 Comment
Lucy’s been climbing on this play structure at Walter Haas playground since she was a baby. Yesterday she climbed and balanced and strutted along the green uneven blocks and squealed with delight at the end, “I couldn’t do this when I was 3 years old, now I’m 4 and I can do anything I want to!” I hope she holds onto that confidence forever.
Categories: playground · preschoolers
Tagged: climbing, lucy, playground, walter haas
Keeping aloft
November 13, 2008 · 1 Comment
Someone I trusted dropped an unexpected ultimatum bomb on me via email today. Fluffy clouds to keep aloft! These were somewhere over Texas on a flight a few days ago.
Categories: civil rights
Tagged: fluffy clouds
