We had a couple snow days, cold days, and icy road condition days and per an email yesterday a “solar eclipse” day coming up April 8th. MJ asked if the new school schedule might be school every other day? Which sounds about right.
Now that it’s 35 degrees it feels like Spring. Cause look at what the temperature was just a few days ago:
One icy road condition day, the kids made a fort, took every pillow and sheet from our entire house into that fort, and for a week we all just kind of let that thing stand.
Cause that’s what happens when we’re all home, stuck inside, for far too long. You just kind of give up.
I fielded requests for many snacks, sippy cups, and wardrobe changes. At one point, I had to announce “This is not Nemacolin. We are not at Hotel George V. There is no butler. Go get your own Pirate Booty please.”
After 2 days back at school mom regained her sanity. I made myself an affogato (vanilla ice cream with espresso poured over top) and then went to a class at Lifetime gym which focuses on legs and thighs. I am not sure if I’ll ever be able to walk again.
Our sleeping arrangements have evolved as of late. All 3 littles now like to be in the same room. They bring their Avengers stuffies, a baby doll with a stroller, and a Barbie into the large basement guest room bed and snuggle together throughout the night. I am all for sleeping arrangements that provide everyone with more sleep. This is:
Thought you should know – Justin Timberlake was on SNL last Saturday. Based on recent revelations about his treatment of Britney it felt different. Esther Zuckerman of The Atlantic agrees, but Dakota Johnson roasting the SNL writers was absolutely hilarious.
And New York City government has announced that social media is a toxin for young people. Yep.
2 spiritual books I’ve been enjoying – The Baby’s First Book of Prayers (gifted from a friend in New York) that benefits 9/11 babies. Love giving this book to new moms; the prayers make Marnie giggle: “Thank you God for my nose!”
Bubbe gave MJ & EB The Action Bible with comics / cartoons – we’re reading the story of Cain and Abel and I think they think it’s Marvel.
Went to Heinens for some groceries – the kids cleared us out of goldfish and popcorn after all those days home. And just thought you should know, I am a great person. I brought a canvas bag for my groceries and recycled my glass Hartzler chocolate milk bottle for $2.
Entre nous, speaking of drinks, the French believe Pepsi is overcharging for its products; using inflation as an excuse. So Carrefour, a French supermarket I used to frequent, now refuses to sell Pepsi at all its locations.
And that is very French. We might talk about the invisible hand over here on this side of the pond, but the French are not shy about a hand that is visibly involved in just about everything. How many English songs can be played on the radio, whether you can use the word email instead of courrier electronique…it is a very different mindset.
French people argue that us Americans are too visibly involved in other areas of life – affirmative action, surrogacy (which is illegal in France)….there are some wild debates to be had at Deux Magots when my kids study abroad and learn a different paradigm.
Which is what education is all about. Which is why I don’t get why American universities are canceling speeches and preventing kids from hearing other viewpoints. Diversity of thought for my children does not scare me one iota.
Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis) elucidates this thinking:
On my errands this past week I re-listened to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Remember Lost Ones?
It’s funny how money change a situation
Miscommunication leads to complication
My emancipation don’t fit your equation
I was on the humble, you on every station
Some wan’ play young Lauryn like she dumb
But remember not a game new under the sun
Everything you did has already been done..
Every man wanna act like he’s exempt
Need to get down on his knees and repent
Can’t slick talk on the day of judgment
Awhile back Eric had to nab me a rental car for a week and all they had left was a red pick up truck. I drove that thing with pride, getting nods from other pick up drivers in Chagrin Falls. I felt part of some special community blaring You Proof and hiking up my skirt to climb in.
I did not not like it.
This Stephen Colbert late show episode is very funny. Speaking of Colbert, Jon Batiste, leader of Colbert’s house band, is coming to Cleveland Museum of Art Sunday Feb 24th (link here). If I could stay up until 9:30pm, okay 9pm, okay 8:30pm… I’d join you.
If you’re alive these days you know we’re in an election year. It’s hard to escape it. Which means Morning Joe is on a lot in our house with ensuing discussions around what’s best for America. A couple of good reads:
Bret Stephens “The Case for Trump, By Someone Who Wants Him To Lose”
Peggy Noonan “This Isn’t Only a Trump Election”
At root, both authors write that America is feeling broken.
“2020, that epic, nation-changing year, tripped something off, began something new, a sense among regular people that some new ideology that doesn’t even have a name had entered their lives on all levels, in their intimate family and work space. The pandemic, with its protocols and regulations and vaccine mandates; the strange things taught in the schools, which were suddenly brought into your home by Zoom; the obsessions with gender and race, the redefinitions of the founding and meaning of America…
I think people feel invaded by the ideology with no name. They know it is unhealthy for society, is in fact guaranteed to make us, as a people who must live together, weaker and more divided.
We are not sufficiently noting that this isn’t only a Trump election, it is also the first national election since the full impact of 2020 and its epochal changes sank in.“
Last week, I came across this hasthag on Twitter courtesy of artist Mako Fujimora – #ListentoMaga concerns. There is something to that. Because demonizing Trump supporters is not the answer. We have to try to understand WHY Trump is gaining.
Speaking of Trump, I’m reading Jared Kushner’s memoir Breaking History. Kushner writes: “We can’t solve problems by talking only to those who agree with us.” If you hated masks or are still wearing one, we are all Americans. Doing the best we can. I hope in 2024 we can agree to disagree on some level.
Jared’s dad reflected on his time in prison by proffering this advice to his son:
“In life, sometimes we get so powerful that we start to think we’re the dealers of our own fate. We are not the dealers. God is the dealer. Sometimes we have to be brought back down to earth to get perspective on what is really important.”
It’s not even Valentine’s Day yet and it’s time to start registering the kids for summer stuff. A few tips:
- Sur la Table cooking classes at Eton Collection starting at age 7
- Kenston Continuing Education offers fencing, swimming, and an etiquette camp at M Italian over the next few months if your kids aren’t hyper scheduled this Spring.
- Lifetime Fitness has rock climbing, pickleball, and summer camps
- Fellowship City, Valley Lutheran & Parkside Church offer Vacation Bible Schools throughout June & July
- Chalk it Up Gymnastics & En Pointe Dance (ballet) in Chagrin offer summer camps
- Ambassadors Soccer Camp is usually mid-July thru Fellowship
- Chagrin Farms horseback riding camp registration usually begins next month
Finally got to my old 2023 Town & Country magazine last weekend. The article “Is Vandy the New Brown?” about my alma mater was très interessant. The answer to that question is “no,” Vandy is not Brown. It is Vandy. It is a unique place. In the South. Not Ivy league. And with an admission rate of 4% this past year and celebrity kids attending (George Stephanopoulos’ daughter & Apple Martin study there) I frankly don’t think I’d even get in these days.
But reading the article makes me reflect on my own educational journey and that of my children. There’s a fine balance between a holistic well-rounded liberal arts education and the career readiness undergrad business schools provide.
In other words, I’d like my kids to be ready for a job but also read Dostoevsky and recognize a Modigliani painting. David Brooks explains the value of literature and arts education in this superb piece in The New York Times last Sunday: “reading literature is associated with heightened empathy skills” he writes, and the arts can provide a “secular rebirth.”
Which brought to mind this dialogue in The Offer (a Paramount + series Eric & I enjoyed re: the making of The Godfather):
Let me ask you a question, Peter. Are you religious?
When I hear Bach or Duke Ellington
Why, are you?
It mattered to my parents.
I used to go to shul
with my dad.
I mean, I remember, I realized
that everybody there
was hoping,
literally praying
that the magic was real,
but for me,
it was just like a bad play.
Now, one Saturday…
I pretended
I was going to services,
and I ducked out,
and I watched my first movie
instead.
“The Adventures of Robin Hood.”
Errol Flynn. Great movie…
I went in. The lights go down.
Audience gets quiet, reverent.
Like we’re in
a place of worship.
Then, the projector
starts to hum.
That magical beam of light
picking up all those swirls
of smoke in the air.
It was like
another planet, man.
And then, poof, wham.
There’s Robin Hood.
Larger than life,
swinging from tree to tree,
shooting arrows through
the ends of other arrows.
It was…oh!
And everybody glued
to the screen.
It was magic.
Real magic.
I mean,
I knew right then and there
that this was my calling.
That darkened movie theater
became my church.
Look at us now, Peter.
Look at us now.
The luckiest guys in the world.
‘Cause we don’t just worship
at the temple. No.
We’re the high priests.
We put the magic on the screen.
Wow. On multiple levels that is both beautiful and also somewhat frightening. There is no doubt though that entertainment = cultural power. Which is why we have to be discerning about both what we consume and what we each contribute to the zeitgeist.
Lastly, a couple of spiritual recommendations:
- The Every Moment Holy app has liturgies for dropping your child off at school. Giving feedback. Handling conflict at your church. I love the app and how easy it is to share liturgies with friends and family.
- The Book of Common Prayer (my Anglican church back in Paris turned me on to this book) bowled me over this week with the prayer for King Charles. It is a reminder, in my own context, to pray for my leaders.
- Mariah Carey clearly went to Sunday School. If you have 10 minutes this Colbert interview is both incredibly silly and insightful.
- Working on the Books of the Bible with MJ & EB at Sunday School and at home. Our children’s minister introduced me to this great song to assist!
A prayer from my Every Moment Holy prayer journal today notes that “Our arms are too short” (Numbers 11:23). That has stuck with me.
We simply can not handle this life and the stuff it throws at us. Seemingly endless snow days. Job stuff. Illness. Parenting teenagers. And 3 year olds. Broken relationships. Tough pregnancies. Whatever you’re going through with your kids, your body, your job…we can rest in the truth that He carries our burdens.
My tweets for the week:
Chaos Coordinator 