I heart New York

We just returned from a marvelous week in New York, in our neighborhood and our apartment.  A surprisingly marvelous week for all of us.

Perhaps inspired by the movie Madagascar,
M was thrilled to visit the Central Park Zoo

From the moment we arrived I noticed a difference in M.  Not only was he thrilled to be there but I observed his neurons firing differently.  Not two months ago in Amsterdam he could remember neither the names of his teachers last year nor the color of the playground slide which he visited almost daily. The moment he arrived in New York he began to remember trivial details of his life there:  not only the names of his teachers but the names of their children, not only the names of various businesses we used to frequent but their specialities, not only the names of our neighbors, but which buildings they live in.

Despite jet lag and no naps, M was eager to
"climb the mountains" in Central Park

M also seemed different, and it took me a few days to realize he was happy and relaxed.  I think he was picking up on our emotions, but also really felt he was home even though he had only lived in that apartment for a year before we moved.  He watched very little television and couldn't seem to get to the playground fast enough.  (In his defense New York style playgrounds are in short supply in Amsterdam and vastly superior to anything you'd find there).

and Washington Square Park

A trip downtown for Bulgogi at KuKu Canteen...

Thanks to Wiggles and Giggles, a great local business in our neighborhood, M had a "camp" that he looked forward to attending every day.  In truth it was an after school program for pre-K, plus some afternoon enrichment classes, but he went to camp there this past summer so that's what he called it.  So, Peter and I got a lot done.  Peter went to work every day (and only Thursday wasn't a full day) and I stopped by my work, taught two workshops, and got everything done I wanted to do (haircut, eyebrows, cleaned out the kitchen, etc.)  We also not only got to see our great sitter but hire her for two mornings!

M and his friend ME picked up
right where they left off

We also reconnected with our great neighbors, in some instances more closely than we had when we lived there. Our next door neighbors had us over for dinner, then drinks, then had M over to finish watching a Thomas movie he began watching during dinner.  We also got to see two new neighbors, born 5 and 6 months ago, and some of the "no matter what kids;" M's name for his friends who, like him, spent a lot of time at our complex's playground.  Oh, and since we missed Kindergarten registration because of school vacation one of our great neighbors is taking care of that for M this week.

Of course, like any trip to New York certain gross aspects were unavoidable:  the poop that stayed in the subway station for 3 days (and is likely still on the wall), the crazy street people we recognized, the people who don't clean up after their dogs, etc.  but some of that is certainly forgivable when you go home.

Catch Up

Here's my Ugly American comment for the day: this country needs to be told about the snow shovel. Last week we got about 3 inches of snow, which was great for about a day. To my great surprise the roads weren't plowed or sanded and nobody shoveled their sidewalk for several days (I saw one guy shoveling 3 days later and evidence that about 2% of my neighbors made some attempt at clearing snow).  I'm used to being in New York where everyone is responsible for their own sidewalk. New Yorkers may say "nobody shovels, referring to the 2 or 3 lazy people in their neighborhood, but here NOBODY shoveled. 

In their defense they do have some kick-ass sleds. In New York I often considered getting my kid around by sled when it snowed but because of the variation in snow removal quality it wasn't really practical. Here it seems to be the snowy day alternative to the bike for some. Just some, though because there are still plenty of people on bikes.  Today we went to the mall where the toy store was selling one that was described as a "2 ass slee."  I'm not sure if this meant it seated two kids or was available in 2 colors.

 

 

M got a great new balance bike from his Uncle and Aunt for Christmas.  It's a Go-Glider, specifically designed for taller kids.  Balance bikes are bikes without pedals that help kids to master balance before they add pedaling.  The result is that they learn to ride a bike quickly.  I can certainly attest to this because M had a balance bike that we started using recently.  Within a week he nearly had the thing mastered but it was just too small for him.  Unfortunately the bike arrived just before the snow so he hasn't had much chance to ride it.

We had a houseguest last week, which was great fun.  Claire was here from New York.  Since her boyfriend has grandkids M's age she knew how to bond with him and he LOVED her.  We were both sad to see her go.  While she was here we went to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, the Diamond museum, Ann Frank House and the Tulip Museum.  It was a whirlwind 3 days and would have been one killer Museum Monday post, but again work has gotten very busy.

Today we went to the mall, and M and I both got Playmobile Mystery Figures. I was thrilled mine was the mama with the Ergo.

Food Friday: Indisch Rijsttafel

My friend Claire is visiting from New York, and in addition to visiting about a million museums over the course of two days, we also went to Kantjil en de Tijger and shared an Indonesian risttafel, or rice table, one of the most exciting types of Dutch cuisine.  It was delicious, and I think the before and after photos say it all.

Work Wednesday: Erring on the Side of Filth

It's been over a week since my last post. Why the lack of dedication?  Well, I've had to switch focus.  I have a bunch of consulting jobs coming up and I had been struggling with making progress at a pace I could be happy about.

I finally discovered that the real problem was one of perception.  A couple of weeks ago while chatting with a self-employed friend over a cup of joe, it suddenly occurred to me that I need to approach my consulting work totally differently from how I always approached my job in New York.  Back in New York, I had an office, loads of people to support my endeavors and perhaps most importantly, as much child care as I could stand.  Admittedly, I couldn't stand much, usually no more than 40 hours, but our current 18 hours of nursery school is a far cry from the arrangement I'm used to, especially when I have taken on full responsibility for the household.

So, lesson learned,  if I'm going to produce four classes in various formats, something's got to give.  And the thing that can give is housework.  Last week, there was no work wheel.  I decided that in the interest of getting the content produced for the one class that was new, I would not do any housework.  P was back in New York for work (which was good because he probably would have done all the housework and the guilt would have interfered with my productivity) and M and I at very simple meals.  I mentioned the plan to my friend Jenny, West Coast L's mom, and she immediately volunteered to pick M up at school one day to give me an extra hour.

So on Thursday I buckled down and finished a very respectable first draft of the course by 2:00!  I ran out to Albert Heijn to pick up some fish sticks and ran into Jenny. We went to pick up the kids together and M was so disappointed that I had intruded on his play date plans that Jenny took him to the playground anyway and I got to go home and tidy up a little.

I feel like I have broken through my block and can now get my three other courses sorted out.  But, if the blog ever goes dark for a week again, you know what I'm doing.

Children Say Many Amusing Things

Ages ago, I read an interesting article in the New Yorker.  I know this was ages ago because I only subscribed to the New Yorker for the first six months I lived in New York. I found the weekly publication schedule so stressful that I cancelled my subscription.

Anyway, the piece by Adam Gopnick was about psychoanalysis.  I don't think it was specifically about his experience with psychoanalysis but he did draw on his own experience.  Once, after the author unloaded a long story about his ambivalence about having children, the analyst simply retorted, "Children say many amusing things."  This quote had a huge impact on Gopnick, who went on to have a family and remember what his doctor said every time his kids said something amusing.  If his house was anything like ours, he probably remembers his doctor on a daily basis.  Since I read the article, I know I do.

Recently M was remarking on the different ways his friends pronounce his name. The pronunciation does differ noticeable between his cousin L, who has a Boston accent, his British teachers and friends, and West Coast L. As we discussed this, he asked where West Coast L is from. I told him Portland. He replied, "she speaks Port."  Last weekend out of the blue M said, "I think I'll marry L and be an army man."  I asked what L would do and he said, "she'll stay with the kids so they don't get into mischief."  When I asked how many kids, he said, "two, because that works out well for bunk beds."  When I asked where they would live he said, "when L's mom dies we'll live in her house, and I'll be Port!"  (Note:  moving into someone's house after they die is a recurring theme with M; I suspect he doesn't understand real estate transactions and thinks this is the only way to acquire property).

A couple of weekends ago we were out most of the day, then we came back and played Batman. First with figures then live action. I was the Riddler, then maybe after a few minutes M said, "pretend I'm Bat Boy and daddy is Bat Man and you are the Joker but you turned nice and married Bat Man."  Reforming baddies is a recurring theme with M; his "lands" must not have a high rate of recidivism as Batman, etc. spend a lot of time teaching the villains how to be nice.

M is a huge fan of Robin Hood, and often uses his Playmobil knights castle to play a version of Robin Hood.  I, always assigned the role of the baddy, am often asked to be the "Foamy King of England."  For those of you who (unlike me) haven't watched Disney's Robin Hood four million times in the past year, there is a song that refers to Prince John as the "Phony King of England."

Art

I recently discovered a store called Xenos, which seems to be Amsterdam's answer to the Christmas Tree Shops.  They have a terrific craft aisle, so while I was there buying picture frames for M's school photo gifts to P's family, I thought M could do some paintings on canvas for them as well.  I bought 6 small canvases, a stubby paint brush perfect for preschool hands, a set of 12 tubes of acrylic and a nifty palette (a la Vincent Van Gogh).

Uncle David playing football

A daddy and baby dragon.

Mixed purple and gray.

His paintings were basically experiments in color mixing, and two of the three he did today had stories (one was a dragon, obviously inspired by the color he mixed, and the other was Uncle David playing football.  The video shows a little bit of his process.

Food Friday: Fail

M and I set out today to make some simple oven baked onion rings from our new Better Homes and Gardens Kid Favorites Made Healthy cookbook.  The recipe calls for dipping circles of onion in egg white then fine, dry breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter, then baking them in a hot oven.

I certainly started out with the best of intentions and enthusiasm.  M and I went to Albert Heijn to pick up some supplies, but yet again we were met with blank looks when looking for a product.  This time it was cooking spray.  This isn't really something I bought regularly in the States, but I know I could find it just about anywhere.  Do we really not export Pam?  The shopkeeper, trying to be helpful, pointed me towards something which turned out to be a weird liquid form of Benecol.  I know this because I bought it.

The amount of onion the recipe called for

The amount of onions the crumbs actually covered

The second thing that tripped me up was how the breadcrumbs stuck--or rather didn't stick--to the onions.  I chalked this up to the breadcrumbs being either not fine enough or not dry enough--maybe both.  Certainly, they were not nearly plentiful enough.  The recipe called for 3/4 cup; I made about a cup and they "covered" (using the term loosely) about 12 rings rather than the 2 whole onions indicated in the recipe.

Sad, burnt onion rings

Not having the cooking spray wasn't such a problem, since it was only for greasing the cookie sheet. If I was thinking I wouldn't have even stressed about this since I prefer to use straight oil at high temperatures because it's easier to clean up.

No, the real problem with this recipe is that I overcooked it because I was in the living room watching Conjunction Junction with M and didn't hear the timer go off.  We ate the non-charred onion rings and all three of us enjoyed them.  I'll definitely attempt this again (maybe after I get a food processor or some type of tool that will allow me to make finer bread crumbs).