Too Good to Be Real

That's how The Girl described her Snookelfritz sweet mint ice cream. I would describe it as too rich for my milk-intolerant self (the things we do as parents...stopped drinking milk when The Tot was a babe and haven't been able to tolerate much of it since), but: if you love milk, ice cream, and fresh ingredients, I highly recommend that you try it. We found Snookelfritz and lots of other organic goodies (farm eggs! fresh cream! a giant pretzel bun! arugula!) at the April Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where The Girl and I began our long Saturday morning Mama-The Girl playdate. (Yes, my five-year-old is weird: her idea of a good time is helping me at the grocery store, do the laundry, etc. I hope as her abilities grow, she'll start thinking that a mother's chores include going to work as well.)

Anyway, we went to the Green City Market. For some reason, I thought it was outside and found primo parking just off North Avenue. We ended up walking all the way up to the butterfly museum and back, passing tons of joggers and families of three pushing strollers. It was a long walk for me, let alone a not-quite 5-year-old with short legs. It was a beautiful day, but quite windy. We stopped at Starbucks for some iced tea on the long walk back. The side trip sparked a conversation about the origin of the name Starbuck. The Girl's theory is that it's called Starbucks because you can get drinks for a buck there. 

By the time we returned to the car, we were both pretty tired, but still had to go to Trader Joe's to do the bulk of our food shopping. A man about my father's age heard our conversation and was chuckling at the girl's reasoning for what went in my cart versus hers. I'm glad that we are so amusing, but it was actually quite refreshing to run errands with just one fairly helpful little person, in the city on a gorgeous spring day.

When Blogging and Real Life Collide

Today, as I was resting on a giant leather sofa at the Starbucks closest to my office on a mid-afternoon caffeine run, I looked over and there was a cute blond toddler in a red Bumbleride screaming his head off. I laughed--not because I was taunting the child or teasing his parent, but because I have so been there. And then his mother popped up and I smiled at her in that way that mothers who have survived toddlerhood will recognize as the secret-club handshake of mothers...and realized that she is the genius behind Big City Fuzz and Big City Suds. Cool. Now I want some lemongrass-scented soap and recycled wool mittens.

Small Change and Small World

The Dad came down with the 24-hour stomach bug today, so I found myself on day 2 of a 3-day weekend with 3 rambunctious children. Plan A was to take Metra downtown to the water taxi, and take that over to Chinatown for lunch/walking, but The Girl, who has a pathological fear of train stations and crowds, nixed that plan. Onto Plan B.... Nickel City.

Nickel City, in Northbrook, just off the Waukegan Road exit from the Tristate, has heretofore been an outing to which The Dad takes the kids. A national franchise, Nickel City is an arcade that bridges 80s video-game parlors and Chuck E. Cheese. Thankfully for me, it's brighter than the 80s video arcade and quieter and less frenzied than Chuck E. Cheese. A $2 entry per kid (The Tot was free; this worked out to the owners' advantage as all he really wanted to do was feed nickels into the slots -- he'd take off before the game started) and $10 worth of nickels bought us about 2 hours of video fun -- the most I could stand before my head was pounding. Between the four of us, we racked up 150 tickets, which we used to "buy" useless plastic crap -- the kids were not to be deterred into my idea of trading tickets for a bag of M&Ms to be split 3 ways.

We briefly stopped into Hobbytown USA in the same strip mall, where The Boy played with gorgeous Quadrilla sets, The Girl looked at arts & crafts kits, The Tot manned the train table, and I eyed gardening and science kits. We bought 4 pieces of wooden track and went home, stopping briefly at the Starbucks in Northfield for iced tea-lemonades for the hot and thirsty crew.

Once home, boredom quickly set in so we went to Target to spend the kids' saved-up allowance. The Boy, who gets a modest $3/week, has been saving for a Bakugan case. The Tooth Fairy visited last week for the first time, and left him enough money to advance his cause. While wandering the toy aisles in search of Bakugan, a small doll for The Girl, and a Matchbox car for The Tot, we ran into Jenny Barron-Fishman. It took Jenny and I awhile to place each other, but when we did, I realized how small Chicago really is. Jenny was the proprietor of Sweet Pea's Yoga Studio. Without her, I wouldn't have found my playgroup in spring 2003, during a mom-and-me yoga class. It brought the point home to me again: the longer I stay in Chicago, the smaller and tighter my world gets.

Mama-Girl Playdate

Yesterday, we had a family outing in the morning -- to Supercuts in Six Corners for haircuts for The Boy, The Girl and The Dad. The Tot played and I read Nylon. After that exciting morning, we headed up Cicero to Whole Foods - Sauganash to kill two birds with one stone: lunch at the grill and a 1/2 gallon of milk from the dairy case.

Once home again, I headed out again to Jo-Ann Fabrics to buy lining fabrics for my latest large-scale sewing projects: making pretty bags to sell at the GIPNA Fine Arts & Crafts Fair. The Tot took a nap and The Boy wanted to stay at home, so The Girl came with me and we made it a little Mama-The Girl playdate. She helpfully picked our fabrics with me, and then we braved the hail-like white substance that was then falling from the sky in advance of the April snow shower, and hurried over to Starbucks in the same strip mall for a snack. She got kids' hot cocoa with whipped cream and a blueberry muffin. She very nicely shared her hot cocoa with me and we talked about what we were going to do at her birthday party in a month, and what we should do in Seattle this week.

Then we went home. When we arrived at our car on the other side of the parking lot, it was parked to a VW Beetle. A pink VW Beetle. TG: "See Mama! I told you there were pink cars!" This pink VW Bettle had ears and a pug nose on its front and a curly tail on its back. The license plate read "JIMS PIG." She's still talking about it.

Update

I have been awful about updating this blog of late. The Tot and I have been having fun doing little stuff around the north side, and generally ignoring or skipping our classes. I have to get better about actually going to our Moms, Pops, & Tots interaction class at Independence Park, which is on hiatus this week between sessions. And I have not been great about going to Jam with Julie, which The Tot does enjoy, but is often in a time conflict with both the start of the school day and, an hour later, the start of the CFC day. I'm no longer involved with the co-op, thus eliminating daily runs to Midwest Bank and freeing up our schedule to enjoy our Wednesday morning class with Julie. But I have no great excuse for missing our IP class.

On tap this week? Lots of nonfat vanilla lattes at Starbucks. On Monday, we went to the Treasure Store. The Tot likes to run and hide under the racks, and doesn't respond when called, so I must keep him in the stroller or mei-tei in the store. On Monday, I was wearing him on my back in the Catbird Baby and a pregnant woman who was clearly shopping the baby bargains, asked me if I had ever seen slings in the TA and where could she find them. I don't recall noticing a sling in the TS, but told her that she could buy them used on The Baby Wearer. I always seem to find something at the TS -- on Monday, it was a new terrycloth bathrobe and NWT plain navy blue t-shirt for The Boy, and a cute Hawaiian print camp shirt and PsychoBaby Mack Daddy tee for The Tot. Afterwards, we stopped at Starbucks for--you guessed it--a nonfat vanilla latte.

On Thursday, we skipped the latte and went to Joann's ISO yellow fabric to make a t-shirt for The Boy. Another store that is a nightmare chase scene for Mama, Joann's displays tons of little things (spools of thread and ribbon, packages of elastic and so much else!) at a height of approximately 3' off the floor--just level with The Tot's line of vision. And I've noticed that fabric stores tend to employ women just below the age of retirement. Presumably, it's because they know a lot about fabric and sewing and can speak knowledgably to inquiring customers. This may be true, but they also tend to be crabby and have behavioral expectations of small children that are stuck in the 1960s, and they have no problem correcting my kid when they think he's doing something wrong -- like picking up a spool of plastic-wrapped serger thread and licking it. Which he should not do, but really?!?

Afterward, we walked down to Strack & Van Til, the signs in the windows of which read, somewhat incorrectly in my opinion, "thank you for shopping at your neighborhood market." There's a difference between a store that is in your neighborhood and one that is your neighborhood market. The parent company is based in Highland, Indiana. Still, there was a man giving a food tour to a group of school kids in the produce section, and one of the deli counter ladies gave The Tot a steak fry when I asked her if she had any plastic knives that I could use to cut open the avocado that The Tot was trying to gnaw his way through (they were sold "by the each") as he was hungry and crabby.

Amazingly enough, after two errands, we still had time to kill before we had to retrieve The Girl from preschool, so I headed over to Clybourn to do a quick cruise through Cost Plus World Market, a store in which I loved to browse when we lived in San Francisco, and which the non-IKEA furniture and decor in my house almost invariably comes from. Picked up a new glass canister to hold coffee beans and a fun new bath toy for The Tot. And then it was time to get The Girl from school.

Around the Neighborhood

I miss going to museums. These days, we've been sticking close to home. Between The Girl's preschool day and The Tot's nap time, there just isn't a lot of time to go anywhere. In the mornings, while The Girl is in preschool and The Boy is at school, The Tot and I go to thrift stores (last week, I got a fantastic, solid wood credenza [to use as a media stand] for $35), run errands, putter around the house, go to the park, drink coffee at Starbucks, and jam with Julie.

One on One

Today was a lovely day. I started out the day by taking The Boy to his STEP UP literacy assessment at Disney 2. I chatted with some other moms, including Ms. Sandra from CFC, as we waited for our almost-Kindergarteners to be assessed. Afterwards, I extended our one-on-one time by taking The Boy to our neighborhood Starbucks for a lemonade and seasonal cookie (him) and latte and seasonal cookie (me). There was a kid with his tutor at the next table over, and The Boy was more interested in what was happening over there than in talking much to me, but it was a nice day and we were sitting outside, so it was cool to just spend easy time together. Then, Mario Greco, our old Realtor happened by. I hadn't seen him since 2002. He and his wife left Lincoln Park to build a place in Old Irving Park. It was nice to see him and catch up a bit. I feel like the fact that Mario is moving to my neighborhood is a sign that it's no longer up and coming, it is there.

We bummed around at home for a bit. The Tot got a nap. We all had lunch. And then I took The Tot, The Boy, and The Girl to run a bunch of errands, including a trip to Costco for ice cream, to Office Max for school supplies, and to Gymboree to exchange The Girl's first-day-of-school dress.

After errands, I dropped The Boy and The Tot back off at home. And The Girl and I went on a Mommy-The Girl playdate. It wasn't much -- just dinner and a bit of shopping at Target. But it was fun to go out with The Girl alone. She is very chatty, and also enjoys helping me (thank you Eloise Wilkin's We Help Mommy). Plus, when left as the director of an outing, she's much more likely to listen to what her body is telling her; at 7:30, she told me that she was ready to go home and go to bed. So we did.

Old Orchard

I headed up to Old Orchard this morning for a mom-only appointment. As a favor to me (and another perk of working from home), The Dad stayed home with the kids. Then, because he had a Very Important Conference Call and asked me to take the kids out of the house during it, I turned around half an hour after returning and went back up to Old Orchard with The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot.

We hit Nordstrom for back-to-school shoes from its Anniversary sale, and then headed over to the cafe for "the usual." We meandered to the center play area so the kids could climb on the dragon. Unfortunately, it was 90+ degrees outside and the dragon was in direct sun. I tried to convince the kids to veer off into Pottery Barn Kids to play, but they were not interested.

So we got our photos taken at The Picture People instead. I made a quick dash through Janie & Jack for coordinating outfits from their sales rack. The Tot has a photo deficit. He's had two formal photo sessions since birth. As The Dad says, he's the neglected 3rd child. Today's photo session remedied that. I had not been to the PP since before The Girl was born; they've changed over to an all-digital format that reduces the wait time for photos. While we waited, we went to Starbucks for a snack (mama needs her occasional latte!) and then wandered around Restoration Hardware, where the kids annoyed the (patient, older) clerks and amused their patrons by asking a million and one questions.

Then it was time to go home. Traffic on the Edens was bad, as usual.

Green City, Playdate

This morning, I got up early and took The Boy with me to one of the City's green events, a drop-off harmful substances and pick-up a rain barrel and/or compost bin thing. It was held in one of Comiskey Park's parking lots, just north of the 35th Street entrance to the park. We got there around 9 a.m., about an hour after it started, and we were in and out quite fast. We dropped off old paint, Pine-sol, and about 8 pounds of used batteries. I also picked up a subsidized compost bin from the City for $30. Fortunately, I brought my checkbook, because they only took checks. Not everyone was so lucky, so I wrote a check for the guy behind me, who like a few people only had cash.

When we got home, I traded kids with The Dad, and took The Girl to her ballet class. For the first time, I spent the whole class period in the waiting room, and I'm happy that I did not hear Ms. Jen reminding The Girl of good class behavior -- nor did I see her sneak out of class into the waiting room. After class, I brought The Girl and Peri over to Starbucks, to meet Peri's mother and brothers. This is when the giant (very fun!) playdate that was our afternoon began.

Peri, Enver, and The Girl walked home with me. We stopped at Walgreen's to pick up diaper-rash cream and sliced bread, and ran into Beth T. and her kids. A. is in ballet class with Peri and The Girl, and S. is just a few months younger than The Baby. I invited them to come over as well. When we got home, The Boy and D., our neighbor, were already in their swimsuits to go on D.'s slip-n-slide. I found suits to lend all of our guests, and everyone ran back and forth between D.'s slip-n-slide and the sprinkler that The Dad set up and ran for a bit in our front yard. It was nice to talk further with Beth T. and the kids all had a great time running around and, later, playing inside and in the backyard.

Redemption

The Baby's mood -- and mine along with it -- improved after a nap (for him) and lunch. But The Boy and The Girl were cantankerous, so we had to get out of the house. I called my friend Becky, and she invited us over to play. I took advantage of the nice weather to take the bus over to her house. It took about 40 minutes (the longest part was walking to and from the bus stops) and was a nice little adventure for the afternoon. The Girl asked at every stop whether that one was "our" stop.

The trip back was a bit more arduous, as we were all hungry (stopped for milks for the kids and a tall decaf latte for me at Starbucks on the walk to the bus stop), tired, and cold. I carried The Baby in the sling and pushed The Girl in our lightweight stroller. We all had a good time and got out of the house, which is really all that matters.

A Strong Community

Can I just say that I love my local community? I've been a resident of my neighborhood for nearly 6 years, but it's only in the past year or two that I've felt like I've been a community resident. Today proved it yet again.

I brought The Girl to her ballet class yesterday morning. I had planned to walk there, but The Boy was limping along, so we had to abort the mission and drive instead. I passed Allison and her kids along the way. The Girl, The Baby, and I waited for them after parking The Great White Moose, but they had stopped to chat with Caroline D. and her family, who were on their way home from the YMCA. So we went into ballet instead, where we ran into Beth T. and her daughter, and a few friends from various other classes. As soon as we got inside, The Girl told me to "go," so I walked over to Starbucks with The Baby and Allison.

Afterwards, I picked up The Dad and The Boy, and we joined Allison and her family at Caroline D.'s house to hang out. The Boy stayed behind to play with the boys, and The Dad and I took The Girl, The Baby, and Allison's daughter, Peri, with us to lunch at our favorite breakfast-lunch spot, Curio Cafe. The Dad was quite cute with the girls, holding hands with each one across the street. I had the Plato Tipico ($7.95), which has become my new favorite CC dish, The Dad had his favorite CC dish, the steak sandwich ($7.50), The Girl got the alphabet noodles and cheese ($3.50), The Baby had eggs-potatoes-and-toast ($3.50), and Peri got the grilled cheese ($3.50). Yum! Afterwards, we came back to our house to let The Baby nap and let the little girls play: kitchen, dress-up, and coloring.

Peri's mom picked her up, and we took The Baby and The Girl and headed back to Caroline D.'s house, where we dropped off the little ones and picked up The Boy. Then we headed to Uptown to attend Uncle Bad's birthday BBQ. The Boy left with Grandma and Grandpa Naperville after about 1/2 an hour; they took him to visit Super Grandpa in Indiana. It was odd being at an adult party! I think The Girl and The Baby may have had a better time attending a birthday party at Caroline D.'s neighbor's house.

It was a great day. I also fell asleep at 8:30 and got a solid and rejuvenating 12 hours of sleep.

Bongo Girl

The stars aligned this morning, allowing The Girl and I to make it to Jammin' with Julie's Advanced Music class. As we were walking in, she said, "I hope Hanna is there!" And she could even specify which Hanna she meant when I explained that there were three in the class. None of them were there, although several other familiar faces were there. The Girl does really well in this class; she isn't the annoying, pushy kid in the front, and she isn't the kid who refuses to participate, but she is a good student, in my opinion. She is enthusiastic and responsive without dominating.

Other than that, we stuck close to home again today.

The Girl fell asleep in the afternoon, and since The Dad worked from home, I left her napping while I got The Boy from school. I took him and The Baby to Starbucks after school for a little boys-Mama playdate. The Boy told me about his day (chasing Caitlin, a kindergartener) around the playground, while The Baby sat up nicely in his chair at the table, impressing the people at the next table over. We played a bit outside on the sidewalk before getting into the car again.

A sheltered life

Unjustly accused of losing The Dad's keys, I spent the morning combing the house, car, and garage for them. Rather than showering and taking The Baby (and The Girl) to one of the last jammin' with Julie classes of the session, I alternately helped him search and consoled a cranky Baby. (I found the keys where The Dad had left them: stuck in the garage door.)

After dropping The Girl off at MDO, The Baby and I spent the day entertaining The Dad's cousin James. He charmed the heck out of The Baby, but he's really in Chicago to find a job in accounting/finance. We left The Great White Moose in the lot and walked along uncluttered sidewalks lined with leafy trees through the neighborhood to Starbucks for vanilla lattes and baked goods (The Baby took over my apricot scone with raspberry jam print; I'd post a review [we're already frosted sugar cookie addicts], but I hardly got any.)

James told me about some of his experiences as a Chicago newbie. I have to admit that some of them shocked me. On some level, I am aware that such things/people exist, but the Chicago I know, work, live, and play in is still scrubbed pretty clean of the underwordliness that The Dad's cousin saw. And I suppose Mayor Daley likes it that way. Corruption is one thing. The revival of the Levee is another.

Later, The Baby, The Girl, The Boy and I headed to Uptown for playgroup. Today's cute kid story is brought to you by Aqua, the Danish pop group from the 1990s most known for its song, "Barbie Girl." The Girl asked to put in the CD "with the blue bubbles," so I popped in Aquarium. The Girl, of course, loved "Barbie Girl" and asked me if "the Barbies" were singing it; she then asserted that this was true. I didn't bother to disabuse her or The Boy of that notion. The Boy said that he was going to (pretend to) be the boy singer because he liked his voice. He then asked what the boy singer's name was. I told him "Ken."

By some miracle, we made good time driving to Uptown and back. We spent 2 hours playing with our friends at playgroup. Our friends from the suburbs even drove in for it, so The Boy and I got to marvel at the spaces in two of his friends' mouths, as they had both lost teeth. I don't think any of The Boy's teeth are loose, but I should find out what the Tooth Fairy's going rate is these days.

Gas Guzzler

Yet another reason to be thankful that The Boy can walk to school next year: the price of gas within the city is the highest in the country. I spent $73.10 to fill up The Great White Moose this morning, and it's only an 18-gallon tank. Between the price of gas and construction on the Edens, I don't want to drive anywhere ever again.*

It's a good thing that I've found more activities for the kids to do in and around the neighborhood. On Saturday, we spent nearly the whole day on foot. In the morning, The Boy, The Girl, The Baby and I headed to West Walker's annual community garage sale. It was a successful trip on two fronts -- we found a made-in-Illinois Radio Flyer wagon (for $15) and a 20" bicycle for The Boy (for $10) -- and we saw lots of our neighbors and friends on a beautiful spring morning.

My plan had been to walk directly over to ARCC for The Girl's ballet class, but our stroller was too laden with stuff to make that feasible, so we first headed back home to drop off our loot. We stopped to talk to a neighbor, which made us too late to walk.

Once she was decked out in head-to-toe ballet pink, The Girl joined her ballet class, and The Boy, The Baby and I joined our friends at Starbucks for some coffee (the moms!) and a snack (the boys -- both big and little). The Boy and Enver had a great time being utterly silly together, while The Baby alternately begged me for coffee or cried because I was drinking it. The Dad, who had been visiting a friend in Aurora, walked over to meet us after his Metra train arrived. Then we all trooped back to pick up The Girl.

We spent the afternoon hanging around outside, talking to and/or playing with neighbors and generally enjoying the day. Our former neighbors came to check up on their house, and stopped over to say hello. The Boy was thrilled to see them.




* Which is not to say that I won't. I do, after all, have lots of good friends and relatives in the 'burbs.

Busy, Busy, Busy

One of these days, my life will slow down. But if I am honest, I am not sure I want it to, as I generally enjoy being busy. However, there are some times when it's just too much.

Today, I saw the dentist, got yogurt at Whole Foods, bought clothes at the Salvation Army flea market event, took The Girl to ballet class, had a coffee date with The Girl and her friends and their mothers, and took two little girls to the park -- all before noon.

We met the boys at the park, and I took The Baby and The Girl (and her friend) to meet our friends at the Curio Cafe, while The Dad and The Boy walked up to the Golden Nugget for a reprise of last night (for The Boy, anyway). I got the plato tipico at Curio, and it was really good. Afterward, I attempted to go to the organic plant sale at Kilbourn Park, but the sale had closed for the day by the time we got there.

Busy Day

Today was a very busy day for me. As soon as I got up, I took The Baby with me to the Swedish Bakery in Andersonville to pick up petit fours for The Girl's birthday tea party. I also got a couple of donuts to bring back for The Boy, The Girl, and The Dad.

When we got home, it was time to take The Girl to her Saturday ballet class. She had a fantastic time with "Miss Jen." I went across the street to Starbucks and got some work done.

After ballet, The Dad took The Baby, The Boy, and The Girl to our neighborhood greasepit, Munchies, for hot dogs and gyros, while I prepped for the party. We all had a bath and changed into our party clothes.

And then five little girls and their mothers came over for tea!

Cultural Check-Up

Today, I enjoyed a rare treat: going to the Hopper/Homer exhibit at the Art Institute, without the kids. And with an art historian (her specialty is the Italian Renaissance, but no matter), so it was like, nay better than, having my own docent. We spent quite a long time wandering around the exhibit, and we skipped the Homer rooms entirely. Like many Chicagoans, I have always loved Nighthawks; it's starkness and unfinished conversation are just so compelling. But until the show, I never really saw much of Hopper's other works. I found it interesting that he really manipulated the angle to make buildings look much more desolate than they (perhaps?) really were. I found myself drawn to many of the architectural paintings he did during his summers in Gloucester, Maine, and Cape Cod.

Afterwards, my friend and I walked up Michigan Avenue a bit to Starbuck's, where we each had a drink and chatted for a long time about work, school, pregnancy, her children, Chicago, and Texas. The Blue Line is finally running at regular speed, so I got home in about 1/2 an hour.

And where was everyone else while I enjoyed a cultural check-up at the 'Toot? In Uptown. With their uncle, who we call Uncle Bad. I've decided it's short for Uncle Bad Influence, as they all came home acting like it was funny to see how many times they could slip the word "butthole" into conversation. But anyway...they did have a good time. The Baby took a long nap in his stroller. The Boy and The Girl went to the park and ate ice cream with Uncle Bad and The Dad. Although The Boy reported that they did not have a "crazy dance party," a signature Uncle Bad activity during football game playdates.