School

I love Coleman's school. PS 51 has been amazing. He has great, great, great teachers. They are smart and nurturing and firm and he loves them. In just two months there's been this explosion of learning and an eagerness to do more and learn more. Every kid in public school, not just mine, deserves these kinds of teachers. But alas I know the deserve has got nothing to do with it. I knew a guy who was a teacher who boasted about how he would give assignments so he could finish reading his newspaper, during class. I don't talk to him anymore. Now I wish did, I would give him a giant, giant piece of my mind. I gonna find him on face book and "friend" him.

You told Harpo to beat me!

This discipline thing is such a beast. Time out, spanking, pinching, naughty chairs, privileges lost, talking, talking, talking. The problem is it'll be years before we know if what we chose to do worked! Maybe decades.
Today I heard a woman yell at her almost 3 year old, "if someone hits you, hit them back, I don't care who it is." Then she swatted him on his behind, I really got on my judgment horse. "How could she treat her child that way, he's only a baby?" blah, blah, blah. I had to stop myself.

She's only doing what she knows how to do. Aren't we all?

Our Own Town Hall

5pm around here has been hell on wheels. He's been up since 7, so he's tired, he's hungry but you don't want to give him snacks because then he won't eat his dinner. So he's just been this screaming, crazy maniac. It's like he's at a town hall meeting on health care and all he wants is his country back. It lasts in varying degrees for about an hour. Then just as quickly he snaps out of it and the sweetest boy you've ever seen looks at you with big saucer plate eyes and says "I'm sorry." Your heart melts and you take him in your arms and even though you don't mean it, you promise there will never, ever, ever be a public option for health care.

it's our job

Where are you? What are you doing? Pick that up? Put that away? Don't touch that? What did you say? I didn't hear you say thank you? Stop picking your nose? Did you wipe? Did you flush? Did you wash your hands? The constant monitoring - is exhausting.

But I guess it's what we signed up for.

Get in there

Look at him, he's only 4, 5 next month. He looks like he's about 37 years old. It's been a rough few months on the boy. He had a fever spell lasted about 4 or 5 days, maybe swine flu, doctor was too scared to tell us. Then he busted his lips at summer camp. He slammed his little fingers in something, the tips were black and blue for a couple weeks. Then an inner ear infection, left ear smelled like vomit. Got that cleared up with some antibiotics. Then right on the heals of that was an outer ear infection, some skin rash on his earlobe gone haywire. Required hospitalization for a couple days while they pumped him full of antibiotics via IV. I won't bore you with the details of how much fun it's not trying to set up an IV in the arm of a four year old. But Coleman took it like a champ, they immobilized his arm with a splint so the IV wouldn't come out and Coleman dealt with that splint like it was part of his arm. I was so proud. I was really proud of how brave my boy was.

Slide, Tap

Roz was rehearsing today. Coleman and I took a trip to the Apple store, the power cord on my laptop wasn't working so I went there to exchange it.
If you've never been to the Apple store, they have this bank of computers, about two feet off the ground, the perfect height for curious toddlers. Any day of the week you'll see 2, 3, and 4 year olds sitting at these computers just clicking away.
They are not afraid, not intimidated, not phased at all by computers.

This is a picture of Coleman showing Grandpa Roosevelt how to use my iPhone!! Slide, slide, tap, tap, slide, tap. A few more lessons and Grandpa will be ready to go out on his own!

I kissed a girl

So the big song for last summer 2008 was "I kissed a girl." Sung by a girl. So there was an uproar, because OMG girls are kissing girls and they like it. I read a blog by a father who was frightened for his young child, frightened by a world where his child would learn about "them." So him and people like him voted Yes on Prop 8, making same sex marriages illegal in the state of California - Yes Melissa Ethridge move out of California and take your tax money with you. You too Deb and Sylvia.

The two ladies in this picture are girls that I know who kiss girls. They've been kissing girls for a very long time and have been kissing each other(when the kids are out of the house) for about 5 years.

"We want to protect the family" "We need to protect the children" the frightened Yes on Prop 8 people will tell you. Protecting us from What???

My family doesn't need any protecting from girl kissers. I know I live in NY and I'm in the arts, so it goes without saying that I'm a left wing liberal degenerate - But let me say it loud and clear - we love these girl kissers. I trust these girl kissers with the life of my child.

The really tough looking girl kisser on the left (who is an absolute mush) has played with my son for hours. A game they invented called "sleeping, hibernating animals." Sleeping/hibernating is redundant I know, but it's their game. Nobody else, not even me will play this game with Coleman.

The other girl kisser on the right, adapted and raised 2 boys, will attend your funeral even if she's never met you and has driven us to the emergency room in the middle of the night and sat with us till all was well (more than once I'm afraid.)

They love Coleman and Coleman loves them. How are we diminished by the love of another human being? Those frightened Yes on Prop 8 people get very defensive when you remind them that not so long ago interracial couples were thought to be just as vial an assault on humanity. They say it's not the same thing - the hell it isn't!

Somebody, anybody please tell to me in a clear rational voice, why there should be a LAW against these two tax paying, law abiding, society contributing girl kissers from marrying each other if they so choose.

You may not like girl kissers marrying, it may make you uncomfortable, you probably think it's a sin - but why should it be illegal?

Please SPLAIN!