head cold

i have a head cold, so i am feeling a little fuzzy. my poor kids have had colds for weeks so this will give me a reminder dose of empathy. no wonder they have been whining and not wanting to clean up or go to school. they have been full of crummy germs.

what has been up out here? well, the la-di-da bday party was pretty fun, although i was a lame mom and didn't get one photo of my kids onstage with a magician, making a rope pass through his abdomen. i have a new job site one day a week, which will be a good change once i acclimate. we attended the fabulous annual international potluck dinner at miles' school on thursday. we went to chinatown yesterday morning and miles spoke with some people in chinese as we picked up a cheap silk dress for maya and a wooden snake for miles ("i'm really into snakes now"). gazing at a window display of metal weapons decorated with skulls, dragons, scorpions and spiders miles thoughtfully remarked that china had the most beautiful things in the world, but was a little upset when his toy broke less than an hour after purchase.

yesterday was a wierd day off school for miles. i took him to the rec center to play basketball after chinatown because the kid just has to play basketball every day. there were a ton of kids there playing basketball, playing a video game, and just hanging around. no parents or adults except me, making animals out of playdough for maya, and the three parks and rec directors. our friend the director said it looked very likely that they were all going to lose their jobs at the end of the year. these are three veterans, with many years of experience. so, would the rec center just be locked up? where would all these kids be? my kid would be doing something semi-constructive, or at least safe, no matter what we had to pay for it. but what about all these big and little boys? who would be watching them?

just part of the bigger picture of the crazy crumbling economy. the school budget cuts are $113 million over the next two year. yes you read that right. things are tight enough now. there are all kinds of people coming together at all kinds of levels to brainstorm solutions for this funding crisis, but it will take time for things to change. in the meantime what will happen at my kid's school? to his after school program? to all the kids at his school who would be pretty much taking care of themselves on this friday off without the quirky but somewhat saintly parks and rec directors?

it may sound wierd, but i am seeing the benefits of being at a "diverse school" a little bit more as this budget crisis looms closer, the rainy day fund gone. if miles was at a school where everyone could just skimp on take out to pay more for an after school program, and make up for the school losing arts funding by enrolling their child in a private class my awareness would be lower. but where he is there are definitely families who cannot do that. and what happens to those kids affects my kid because they are in a community which shares money. it feels a lot closer to home, these budget cuts, when we are at birthday parties with kids from the housing project who recently did not have heat or hot water for a while. it makes me think about trying to do more than just pull out my checkbook again for the pta (which i will do). will i do anything else? i don't know. but at least i am thinking and learning.

maybe my kid is not getting the standard education but i have to say i am learning a lot since my kid entered a very diverse public school. how will it play out, all these families, low, middle, and upper class sharing resources in one building? it almost feels like a microcosm of the bigger picture.

it's not all politics. we saw uncle mike today and maya and natalie had a love fest while miles jumped up and down on a wii board and russell scattered food around the living room and rich ate a bunch of eggs and bacon. went to a birthday party in beautiful glen park where the kids ran around in the green and mud and maya begged for more cake (for an impressive 30 minutes straight) and there was an amazing spread of home-smoked ribs and chicken. rich's band carlton melton is getting press all the way over in the uk. maya has a little boyfriend at her new preschool who is a real catch (he likes swan lake AND star wars).

tomorrow i am facing one of my fears and taking bart under the bay and back, in a feeble attempt to start overcoming some phobias. wish me luck and no earthquakes. it may seem silly but i am quite scared.

nighty night