When I greeted Elisa with green pancakes yesterday and told her it was in honor of St. Patrick's Day, she replied, "Again?!" Uh, yeah...about that Sunnyside St. Pat's parade...see it wasn't actually on St. Patrick's day. To be fair, the timing of the parade does always catch me off guard as well, coming so early in the month. But the real point is that no one minds another excuse to wear (and eat) some more green. So yesterday after breakfast, I got Elisa ready and we were off to meet up with Monica and Bix and Tania and Zara to head into Manhattan for a storytime reading from another playgroup mom Micki. Among her many talents, Micki organizes and curates several book projects including this one at the Village Book Nook which was part of an exhibit called The Gathering Place in the West Village. Despite the fact that the local train bypassed our stop causing us to make a u-turn at Canal and we forgot we were still at East 24 8th Street and not West 24 8th Street (a NYC rookie mistake), we made it there only about 20 minutes late. Whew! It's true nothing is ever as easy as it sounds in this city, but with friends in tow, it was all possible. And the extra time just gave us more opportunity to discuss school choices for Kindergarten--the neverending topic these days.
Given the theme of the day, it was easy to keep the kids' attention with talk of leprechauns and rainbows and pots of gold. Elisa shouted out a few times during the readings which made me smile a little because I so rarely get to see her in that kind of mode. She was eager to sit and listen and it made me realize she really is growing up and learning how to interact in her own way. After the stories there were crafts including coffee cup art, making necklaces and designing paper shoes with strings. We finished up the outing with lunch at a nearby restaurant and a quick dash to the playgrounds at Washington Square Park with Monica's sister and family. Considering Nacho was more than happy to stay put at home with Carolina while she napped, I'd say it was a win-win for both groups. Elisa and I don't get to spend a lot of one-on-one time together anymore especially doing things in the city, and so it's nice to see how easy it is when it's just the two of us. Yes, there was still some whining and crankiness, but overall, it was a pleasant day made better because we had friends to share it with.
Given the theme of the day, it was easy to keep the kids' attention with talk of leprechauns and rainbows and pots of gold. Elisa shouted out a few times during the readings which made me smile a little because I so rarely get to see her in that kind of mode. She was eager to sit and listen and it made me realize she really is growing up and learning how to interact in her own way. After the stories there were crafts including coffee cup art, making necklaces and designing paper shoes with strings. We finished up the outing with lunch at a nearby restaurant and a quick dash to the playgrounds at Washington Square Park with Monica's sister and family. Considering Nacho was more than happy to stay put at home with Carolina while she napped, I'd say it was a win-win for both groups. Elisa and I don't get to spend a lot of one-on-one time together anymore especially doing things in the city, and so it's nice to see how easy it is when it's just the two of us. Yes, there was still some whining and crankiness, but overall, it was a pleasant day made better because we had friends to share it with.
No comments:
Post a Comment