Hidden Mickeys!

Hidden Mickeys!
    
     Let me just begin with saying that if you are traveling to FL with a child, you better be going to see Mickey.  For weeks, we had planted in Sophie's head that we were all so excited to go see Mia and Poppo in Florida.  All those plans were sucked right out the airplane window, as we boarded the flight to ORLANDO, where every person who sees a child going to Florida asks them, with the very kindest intentions, if they are going to Disney.  Sophie's eyes grew wide and she nodded yes and added "see Mickey and Minnie and Donald and Goofy."  As the news settled on MY ears, I knew I had to do something.  Not to worry, there are plenty of character themed restaurants, right?  Uncle Trey and Tia were taking her to the Nemo show, which would be fun.  As each air-mile flew by and Sophie called out the window, "We're coming Mickey!"  I knew that I just couldn't disappoint.  Not if I could help it.  We did, indeed, after tireless searching and phone calls, get a last minute reservation at Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort, which was everything a parent could dream of.  You actually sit and eat and all their favorite Disney friends come and visit you.  They don't just walk by, they visit, dance, interact, sign, and hug.  Phew.  I felt an overwhelming sense of relief as we left knowing that I didn't crush my child's dreams.  She, however, proved once more that she was more in touch with true happiness and magic than I could dare to remember.
     Later that week, we stepped out into a beautiful summer day in FL and began the short walk to my grandparents house. The walk I'd done a thousand times was made new by the fact that my Sophie now accompanied me. My sweet girl pushed her baby in the stroller as we walked past neighbor's homes and onto the main street of our subdivision. Oh, I remembered, here's where I went over the handle bars of my bike and had to get stitches in my chin. And there's where my brother ran his trike into a car, over and over again. And this is the driveway where a firecracker went up under grandaddy's car.  We all have something in the neighborhood of those memories, on the streets of our childhood. For (ahem) years, I've viewed them through the eyes of my childhood. Now, as a parent, my perspective shifted and snapped into a decidedly different position. At first glance, it sounds like that could be a bad thing, a sad thing, or a mourning of the gap between childhood and where I live now. Allow me to assure you though that the revelation is anything but.  In fact, the revelation is...invigorating.
     Sophie abruptly stopped her stroller, pointed to the sky and said..."I See Mickey!" "I See Mickey" once more for effect. Sure enough, there he was, manifested in a conglomoration of fluffy white clouds passing over our neighborhood. She handed me the stroller and walked with even more determination the remaining half block to Grandmom and Granddad's. Yes, they live in the same neighborhood.  There, we found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus outside the house. She chatted with them and gave Jesus some milk before we headed to the porch to visit the life-sized Santa.  You may have heard of the "Hidden Mickeys" that can be found all over Disney property.  If not, they are Mickey shaped reminders that the magic is everywhere.  Who knew that we didn't need that elaborate trip to Chef Mickey's to find the Big Cheese though, he was right in our front yard.
     The new experiences that Soph was creating, minded the gap between my own childhood and adulthood. As a parent, I now have the privilege to see the world through her eyes. The wonder, surprise, and excitement, without expectation. As adults we are constantly allowing ourselves to be let down because that movie didn't end the way we thought it should or it's chicken instead of beef at the wedding. Let it go. After you have taken care of your parental responsibilities...i.e. paying the bills, doing the laundry, planning the meals. Enjoy the perks. Allow yourself to see Mickey in the sky.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Top 10 Petersen Happenings of 2012!

Top 10 Petersen Happenings of 2012!

1.  Moving into our first house, after years of renting.  We had tons of fun, making it our own.  Painting walls, getting furniture your parents aren't afraid to sit on, and being able to keep more than 2 suitcases worth of clothes in a normal sized closet.  Ahhhhhh, domesticity.

2.  Getting our first Disney Annual Passes as a family.  Need I say more?

3.  Soph begins to sing full songs from memory.  The first night she sang her lullabies with us to sleep, we had an "I can't believe this is happening" moment.

4.  Sophie's first day of preschool. Tears.  She's going 3 half days, which is postponed to 2013 (explained as you read on), but she thrived the few weeks she was able to go.

5.  Potty Training Sophie.  She nailed it!  Let's be honest though, not until the experience yielded a good cry from Mommy, Daddy, and Soph.  It is after you reach the cliff hanger and consider that peeing in your pants the rest of your life might not be THAT bad, that all of the sudden it clicks and we can all pick ourselves up and pull it together.

6.  Mom Morabito babysits overnight, so we are able to go away to a resort outside Santa Barbara.  A generous gift from dear friends that we finally got to use.  We really enjoyed and needed that overnight vacay at that moment this year.

7.  Lisa signs with an LA agent and gets back in the game with a regional commercial for Robbins Bros. Engagement Rings.

8.  Eric works on Disney Channel's number one kid's show "Jessie" and subsequently gets cast as a recurring character called Catawampus on Disney XD's "Pair of Kings."

9.  Eric books the broadway show "Peter and The Starcatcher."  We transport the fam to New York for a magical Fall into Winter.  Renting out our house to 4 recent college grads, we crossed fingers and prayed that they'd take care of the place.   We packed the garage with our personal items, emptied the closets and drawers we just finished organizing, cleaned out the kitchen and bathrooms, and de-babyfied Sophie's room.

10.  Survived living in the tiniest one bedroom on the Upper West Side, with a toddler.  The hotel rooms on tour were often bigger than the apt. we are renting now.  We took great pride in really New Yorking it up though.  Frequent visits to The Museum of Natural History, The Children's Museum of Manhattan, Central Park, Riverside Park, and many other New York City landmarks were both fun and educational for us, as well as Soph.  You can't help but bond as a family when you have to work as a team just to get in the door of your apt.  Okay, open the door, everyone go to the bedroom so we can shut the door, and now you can come back into the living room.  It's a dance.  Please know we view this as an adventure, not a problem.  aka. 1st World Problems.

Bonus Happening:  Eric shoots the pilot of a new TV show for TVLand called "Giant Baby" in which he plays the Giant Baby of Kirstie Alley.  In this super funny show, Eric is alongside comedic legends Michael Richards (Kramer), Rhea Pearlman (Carla on Cheers) and the aforementioned Kirstie Alley.  Let me just say, Eric is totally ready for this moment.  Can't wait for everyone to get to share in the excitement when, contingent on the network pick-up, it will air in the Fall of 2013 on TVLand.  This show will bring us back to our home in LA!

Looking forward to an adventurous 2013!


Tell us your favorite family happenings of 2012!!!!!!!    We want to know!

Si-i-lent No...

     I can't say I was surprised that my child acted like an outright angel upon arrival in FL.  Grandmommy came into the airport to help and Sophie put on her sweetest face and reached out with excitement.  She got in the car and kept us all laughing all the way to Chipotle, with her comedic timing and the way she repeats what everyone says, she is just the most priceless parrot on the planet.  On the way to the restaurant, she melted their hearts as she held hands and said "loooove you.".  Everyone they passed looked on approvingly.  I looked on said onlookers and welled with pride.  By the time we all sat down with our food, Soph had that look in her eye. You know what look.  That, I know I'm really cute and I might be able to actually get away with something using my cuteness as a distraction, look.  From her high chair, looking round the table as if she had called us here for an important meeting, she folded her arms, gave a big head nod and reprimanded us all, out of nowhere, with a defiant "nnnno.".
     The approving looks snatched into raised eyebrows and flashed back to their own tables. Grandmom and Granddad couldn't help but laugh a bit, and my pride turned to my signature mom look coupled with a dash of close eye contact and pointed direction as I factually "took care" of the matter and said Sophia, "There is no reason for you to act that way.  If you don't want something, you can say no thank you."  There.  All fixed.  Moving on.
     Not so fast, said my baby girl.
     "No.".................  "No."   She played her cards slowly.
     "If you do it again, we are going outside," I cautioned her.
     My 2 yr old put her arms up as if it were a roller coaster ride, looked at me coyly out of the side of her eyes, and mouthed the word "noooooooooo.".
     She soon found out that mouthing the word and saying the word are one in the same.
As we left our food and the restaruant and the company of fun great-grandparents, she began to realize that mommy was serious. That look of "What?  You were for real about that leaving thing?" washed over her face.  Boredom is my ally right now. Taking her out of a fun situation, removing toys and cell phones, and sitting in a time out where mommy is an icy version of quiet, has proved to elicit just the right penance.  Soon enough, she relinquished an "I'm sorry, Mommy" and we headed to the car. She was asleep in minutes. A flight can be exhausting, but having to learn follow rules can really do a toddler in. I reflect on this "Silent No Showdown."  Could I have done a better job of getting her food earlier, did I understand she was tired from a different schedule for flying?  Yes.  Rules are rules though.  No matter where you are.  I will say though, that I appreciate that my little girl enjoys a challenge. We'll just have to try to direct that into a fun, healthy, competitive soccer career or something.  She is one tough cookie, but a cookie nonetheless.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Where Was I?

      I cannot express in words the deep sorrow that filled my soul on the day of the shooting in the elementary school in Newtown, CT. Somehow, I doubt that I need to, as most of you felt the exact same sorrow on that day and for the days that followed. Immediatly, I thought of Soph, who was with my brother and sister-in-law, in FL. I felt so sick about the whole thing I couldn't feel my arms. How could this happen? How are the parents ever going to cope? This is something we have to worry about now? An elementary school? God help them.
     2012 held a great amount of change for our family.  We were constantly riding the current of a sometimes fast and furious, sometimes tortuously slow transition into Los Angeles from NYC, back to NYC, and then back to LA.  Every decision hinged on what was best for Sophie and her future.  I went to work full time briefly in LA, while Eric had a slow time for a few months.  Then Eric caught a wave and was working like crazy and I was once again able to be with Sophie full time.  My point is, at every moment of every day, our children are with us, whether they are physically there or not.  They drive our decisions and thus everything that comes to be in our lives.  Our life becomes something more than we could imagine, constantly being pushed outside the boundaries of what we know.   With that being snatched from underneath our fellow parents in a moment, it's difficult to imagine how they'll go on.
     It is impossible to speak to what those families must be going through.  They have been separated and they are going to need a great measure of faith to get through this separation.  I believe those children are in heaven now and that they are experiencing peace beyond our understanding.  It is all those left behind...the families of the departed, the survivors, and the world that mourns them all, that have to find a way to get through this life without them and without the surety of what we previously defined as safe and secure.  We are all forever changed.
     How do we go on?  After just standing in disbelief for days straight, we have to focus on the life those children did have, on the teachers who acted as heroes, and on a world who is left with a demand for change.
     Eric called me crying the day of the tragedy, which happened to be the same day that they would record his new tv show.  The show is to be comedy, something to help people escape the tragedies life brings us and cope with laughter at the silly shenanigans of pretend characters and situations.  He felt as  the rest of us parents, that he could see nothing else that day.  I told him that we would be dealing with the reality of this tragedy for many days to come, but he had a responsibility today.  He had to think that there will be a time when these families need to laugh, need to escape their tragic reality and this is a show that could help them...even one of them.  Focus on your artistic responsibility to tell a story that will, for a brief moment, bring someone some joy, or at the very least draw their attention from the stark reality of their lives.  In the next few hours, he and the rest of the brilliant cast, put the world outside, and brought the audience into a world where we could laugh and awww at their mishaps and silliness.  Comedy is really a beautiful sort of therapy.
     In the days that have followed Eric and I have both cried tears for those directly effected and for the new reality that we all live in wherein things like this do actually happen.  I hope and pray for those parents that by the grace of God, they find a way to survive this tragedy.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random Acts of Christmas

 Random Acts of Christmas   
     On a cold day in 2006, I was working on the Upper East side of Manhattan.  On this particular day, I was feeling home sick, tired, and beaten down.  Eric and I were dating, he was on tour, and I was in a dry spell as an artist.  As I walked down the west side of 3rd Ave., a bustling stranger with arms full of bags hailed a taxi a few feet in front of me.  He opened the door of the cab, ran over to me on the sidewalk, said "Merry Christmas" and shoved a package into my arms and disappeared into his previously hailed cab.  I opened the bag and peeked in...It was a giant balsam Christmas candle!  Oh, it smelled like my parents house at Christmas!  I immediately loved it!  I wanted to thank him, but he was long gone.  I felt like I had lived that moment in "A Christmas Carol" when Scrooge realizes the error of his ways and goes up and down the streets shoving money and joy in peoples faces.  I don't know if he was Scrooge, Santa, or someone in between, but it was a magical happening for me.  I believed again in the spirit of Christmas.  I didn't even know the spirit had gone missing until I found it again, in the smallest act of a stranger.
     As my perspective of Christmas has changed with my role of being a parent, I feel a responsibility to instill a heart of generosity in my little one.  Please share ways that you let your little one be on the giving end of generosity.  Do you know of volunteer opportunities for kids and parents?  Have you done any random acts of kindness this season?  

Ready, Set,...Craft! Celebration Trumps Complication.

     Like so many fams, we let Sophie make a Christmas craft for each family member.  So, I began the search for the elusive perfect craft.  You know, that one that makes her look like a genius and, oh yeah, that she has fun doing.  We came up with some really cool ideas.
     By the time we got to the point of actually executing said ideas, I realized that these crafts were more us than her.  Make your own snowglobe...cool!  She can first cut out little...oh, wait...cutting may not be a great place to start for a 2 year old.  Scrapped.  Back to the drawing board.  Is this the first taste of impending Science Fair project competition?  And...it begins.
     What could we do that was beyond the scribble, at her level still, but looked like something she could recognize as Christmas once it was done?  We settled on a few versions of hands and feet prints in various Christmas shapes and colors.  Sophie then chose glittery stickers, cotton balls, and decorative balls, directing me where to place the glue and mashing them down on the canvas herself.   She had a ball painting her hands and feet!  Although our shapes were smudged and imperfect and it looked as if we forgot to decorate the left side of the craft (she was oddly drawn to the right), the trained eye of a family member would be able to see that the beauty and heart of this piece could transcend even the Mona Lisa.
     Sophie did her first painting when she was just a few months old and loved it so much that I went and got brushes, washable paint, and paper.  She has been doing a painting almost every day since.  For her 2nd birthday, which was a Rapunzel party, we put mini canvases and brushes and finger paints out and just let the kids go at it.  Did I mention it was an outdoor party?  It was a big, fun, beautiful mess.  Her first art work, that she painted at a dear friend's house on a small square canvas, sits on display on the mantle in our home to remind us of how to see the world;  Through the eyes of a child.
     She is so proud of her work!  As she walks by the drying pieces she puts both hands out, steps back, and says "TADA!"

P.S.  If you want to know what exact crafts we did or to see a pic, you'll have to check back after Christmas.  Don't want to spoil the surprise for the family!

Too Much Popcorn Makes The Baby Go Barf.

   Today, we took Sophie to Disney's Rockin' On Ice.  Our Zipcar rental was perfectly convenient for getting us out to New Jersey's Izod Center.  From the moment we set foot in the door, Sophie was wide-eyed...taking it all in with "ooh" and "ahh" and "I love it" and "cuuuute."  The adorability factor was just off the charts.  Allow me to take you there for 30 seconds of cuteness.  Prepare yourself.

So...there's that.
I was surprised with a 15 minute intermission in the middle of a 90 minute show, however...I began to realize the rational as I set out for the potty and found myself in line clamoring for the Rapunzel braid and the light up toy septor.   The lights filled my eyes and I felt I had been brainwashed by some happy robot, as I fell in line behind all the other drone parents, waiting my turn to hand over the plastic and sign the paper.  I was under their spell.
Eric and Sophie were enjoying a bucket of popcorn, when I returned to our seats.  Sophie danced and sang and just generally enjoyed the second half of the show.  As the end drew near, I prepared our things to run out of the theatre.  Eric had to get back to midtown for his matinee, so we were in a time crunch.  Waving goodbye as the cast did their bows, we ran to the parking lot, buckled Sophie in and headed for the Lincoln Tunnel.
I turned and asked Sophie what her favorite part of the show was, to which she replied,"Dancing!"  I looked away for a second to tell Eric to keep right and when I turned back to Soph, this is what I found.


As our tiny car fell victim to the stop and start of the Lincoln Tunnel traffic, Sophie was jolted awake.  She groggily looked at me, muttered something, and grabbed at her chest.  Then, like a chunky, greenish, yellow waterfall...a straight gardenhose-like stream of barf streamed from the princess's mouth and filled her seat.  The spell was broken.
Jumping into the backseat, I assessed the situation.  I told her it was ok and mommy was cleaning it up. Got my trusty canister of wipes and began cleaning off her hands, coat and face.  There was no hope of getting it out of the seat in this moment.  I informed Eric that he would have to take us home, instead of us dropping him at the theatre as planned.  There was no way, I was going to drop off the zipcar and then walk 3 blocks home with a barfing toddler, a carseat, and our show swag.  When he pulled up to our building, I removed Sophie (still in her car seat- which was d-ripping with liquidized, semi-digested popcorn.)  Once we got upstairs, I left everything in the hallway, cleaned her up, and put her to bed.  Then came the daunting cast of washing the coat, clothes, and carseat crevices.  The stench entering my nostrils tried more than once to elicit some puke from myself, but was no match for my mind over the matter.
Again Sophie has taught me a valuable lesson:  Too Much Popcorn Makes The Baby Go Barf.  Maybe the bigger lesson for me was that while I want to let Sophie have a great time, but too much of a good thing can go south.  We have always applauded ourselves on giving Sophie experiences.  The experiences of life are enough to give her.  The plastic knick knacks and popcorn all go in the trash...or the toilet as the case may be, but the togetherness and experience are what transcends the moment.

Heart of Thanksgiving.

     We got to experience Thanksgiving through Sophie's eyes this year.  At 2 years and 4 months, she can really express all she is absorbing and enjoys all the frilly festivities of decorations, parades, and family gatherings.  She had been talking about Santa coming to town since she woke up and squeals of delight filled the room as Santa's float indeed came to town.  In true Petersen fashion, she jammed along to all the broadway performances, pre-parade.  She even wanted to watch the dancing again when we got home last night!  We, of course, enjoyed cheering on our friends who were performing!  Every year, we seem to know more and more people that are performing and it's fun to celebrate our friends success, as it is a sort of cool and legendary thing to get to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Our excitement must of rubbed off on Sophie, cause she had a ball watching it.  Hmm.  I may have that backwards.  It was Sophie that rubs off on us!  Any bit of rigidity or callous that the world puts on us is brushed away with her genuine and easy happiness at the simplest things.

     We were a bit worried when we came here to NYC.  Worried that Sophie wouldn't understand not having a yard, her room, her toys, or just a little space to call her own.  Well, she really taught us something.  Once I told her that this was going to be our home for a while, she accepted the fact with such ease that you would never know she had known any different.  She loves her Tinkerbell Canopy Toddler bed here that we decorated with purple lights.  The head is in the closet and it sticks out into the bedroom.  To make it not feel sterile and awkward, we put wall decals from home all around the bed and moved some furniture around to make a little nook for her.  It actually looks really sweet and most importantly...she loves it.  Her adaptation to a new environment reminded me that we have the most important thing...each other.  We said from the beginning that we felt the most important things was to be together and have experienced that above all things... togetherness is the single most important ingredient to our family's happiness.

   

At this time, Eric and I have two very sick family members.  This serves as a reminder to us that life is short and every day we have is given to us by the grace of God.

Jaw Dropping!

Our rule for our NYC neighborhood: You must hold hands when crossing the street, but once we cross...you can walk closely without holding hands. As we crossed in front of a diner, Sophie got a bit ahead of us, a man was running across the sidewalk toward the diner, and Eric calmly said,"Sophie, slow down please.". She stopped on a dime. The man turned around and had to scoop his jaw off of the sidewalk. He stammered..."she stopped. I can't believe that.". He pointed at Sophie in disbelief, as if she were a UFO, then smiled and turned back to the diner. Eric and I congratulated ourselves on awesome parenting and commended Sophie on being an awesome listener. We had no idea that kind of obedience was such a rarity in a 2 year old. Apparently, it is.
This wasn't the first time someone has pointed out Sophie's helpful and obedient nature. When we pick her up from Sunday School, the teachers are extremely complimentary on her participation and clean-up. At Ballet class...the teacher directs the children to sit on the brown beam. Sophie runs to the brown beam and patiently waits while the other children are picked up, poked, and prodded to join her. The other parents and nannies look at us with amazement. And...let's be honest, there are a few that have the look of annoyed contempt. I wanted to help the mom of "I get everything I ask for Suzie." Mom of Suzie carried her upside down and wiggling over to the brown beam saying, "if you don't listen, I'll take you outside.". Suzie didn't listen and Her mom never took her outside. I didn't see how anyone could say anything without just frustrating the mom even more. What I can say is, I believe one reason Soph does so well in class is because in the past, I have pulled her into the hallway to take a break from the fun times in class if she can't follow directions. After following through a few times in that dept., she was following directions and obeying the teacher better than ever.
Let me just say, before it's all said and done. Soph is not perfect and there are many times when my plans are met with protest. We are just doing our best and this is something that works for us.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sophie's First Broadway Show

Soph and I were invited by our friend Leslie to a very special date night to see Elf!, the holiday movie turned musical, on Broadway.  This was Sophie's very first Broadway show.  We saw the tour of Mary Poppins and as a sweet surprise, she sat enrapt through the entire thing.  As her verbal skills continue to grow, I wondered if she would be able to keep a lid on it, through this one.  She did yell out at times, but at all the right ones.  She said "Hooray," when the songs ended.  She clapped during the upbeat songs and danced in her seat.  She looked to me and said "upset," when Buddy was wounded by his father's words.  With that being the height of emotional complication here, Soph was easily able to handle this story.  Filled with jazz hands, bright colored sets and costumes, and finger snapping, toe-tapping dance numbers, Sophie enjoyed every last drop.  She turned to me to share laughs each time the audience did.  Nothing makes you feel so special.  The only challenge was that our normal bedtime was at intermission.  The perfect perk up was a brightly colored lollypop that kept her in her seat, enjoying licks and kicks throughout the second act.  Leslie brought the house down with her jazzy, belty voice and her red party dress.  Sophie cheered with extra excitement as she recognized her as our friend!  We had such a special time together.  And I can't possibly hold back that I was so proud of the way she acted like such a big girl and the compliments from all those around us and everybody who passed filled our ears and hearts.

Christmas Story on Broadway

"A Christmas Story" on Broadway exceeded my expectations.  I expected a clunky rehash of a story that didn't excite me because I knew what was around every corner.  Boy, was I surprised!  This was fresh!  From the book to the choreography, the creatives, cast, and crew brought us to a point early on where we were ready to accept the back and forth between real life and the dreamlike, heightened state where these characters play melodramatic versions of themselves.  The kids were adorable and there is a kick line with the whole cast that will force your hands together in appreciation of this shows definative style.  We will be sending our family and friends to this show.  You have no choice, but to have a good time!
P.S.  We didn't bring Soph to this and probably won't until she's a bit older.

Just A Walk At The Park

Eric, Soph, and I decided to walk up to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (89th and Riverside) to commemorate Veteran's Day. Wow! What a sight. All around the monument are canons facing the Hudson river. The monument was built in memory of those who fought on the side of the Union. With a heart for those who have served, these dedications always touch me.  I am constantly amazed by the bravery of people like these men, my grandfathers, Eric's grandfathers, and all the people that continually work on a daily bases to preserve our freedom.  Sophie shares my curiousity and amazement as she walked up and knocked on the epic door.  If we knew what we know now...  In an effort to find out what was inside, I found thru some research that we were just a few weeks late.  Apparently, every October is a huge event called Open House New York.   It is considered the biggest American architectural event, where they open historic monuments, including this one, for public viewing.  We will just have to come back some October to see the inside for ourselves. Our little fam walked down the entirety of Riverside Park on the water side and had a time of reflection.  By that I mean, Eric and I chatted and Sophie...slept.

Location:Soldiers and Sailors Monument, NYC

Rise Of The Guardians Premier in NYC

   We feel super special that we have been included on the invite list for the premier of the last 2 Dreamworks Animation films.  It became a date night for Eric and me.  We had both been excited for a while about seeing this film and it was everything we hoped it would be.  All the characters that continually awaken our inner child throughout the year, came together to rescue us from droning on as boring adults.  The kids in the audience, with their chorus of reactions, took us along their journey, as if we were on a theme park ride. And I just have to say that that was the greatest 3D technology ever.  Super clear and it felt unobstructed.  A truly great escape.  After the movie, it took me a few blocks walk before I became a part of this world again.
    If you get a chance to see anything at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York, that, in and of itself, is a special experience.  The theatre's embellished details and deep red traditional curtains cloak the whole building in magic from another era.

Upper West Side Tour Guide Extraordinaire

A visit from Cousin Kyle.  My 1st cousin Kyle, from TN is here in NYC presenting a paper on Social Business and we got to take him out and show him an afternoon on the Upper West Side.  We met for brunch at Jacob's Pickle (85th and Amsterdam).  This restaurant is New York's spin on Southern Food.  The do a few things really well...You guessed it...pickles (fried mainly) and biscuits.  We then continued walking East toward the 85th St. entrance to Central Park.  Sophie got down and played at Mariner's Playground.  It's one of my favorites because there are 3 different sizes of "ship" shaped structures, in order to accommodate all sizes of little ones.  She loves steering the ship and when I'm feeling especially brave, I let her play in the giant sand box.  Today was not one of those terribly brave moments.  With Hurricane Sandy just having reeked havoc on NYC, I shutter to think what may have washed into that sand box...so I'm going to leave that discovery to someone other than myself.   We then headed down and further into the park to find Bethesda Fountain, a must for those visiting New York and Central park for the first time.  If they haven't seen this in a movie yet, they will.  Taking the Promenade with the tree canopy and statues looking down on us closer to the south end of the park, we stopped and paid a dollar to hear a joke from a street performer.  At Columbus Circle, we exited the park.  Eric left to go to work and I went into the Time Warner Center to use there wonderfully clean bathrooms.  Kyle, Sophie and I headed up Broadway and Sophie took a nap in the stroller.  We walked past Lincoln Center and then took Columbus up to 81st, where we spent the afternoon in the Museum of Natural History.    With a stomach full of Mamma's Famous (86th and Broadway) NY Pizza, we sent Kyle back to Brooklyn via Times Square.  This was an awesome full circle walk that included tons of great Upper West Side landmarks.  I will totally use this walk again, even when I'm not introducing a first-timer.  As for Soph, in true Sophie fashion, it took her about 30 minutes and 4 bites of eggs to warm up to Kyle.  At that point, the switch was flipped and they were thick as thieves.

Hurricane Sandy: Light of Day

      I look through the large duct taped x's I placed across the windows of our 12th floor apartment on the Upper West Side.  The 2 ton crane that dangled over 57th Street during Hurricane Sandy is now tethered to the building.  Where there were once distant lights across lower manhattan lighting up the sky, there is a stillness in the black night.  What a strange bird's nest we have from or 450 square foot apartment.  I realize that literally half of us are without (power, water, heat) and half of us our with.  I prayed through the storm as it battered and shook our windows, that God would keep us safe.  Eric, Sophie and I played together and enjoyed some movies, with an interruption every now and then to wonder if we should move to the hall.  The winds, even with the evidence of seeing a 2 ton crane blow like a ribbon, weren't as worrisome as knowing that this morning, there were people that have awoken to devastation.  Thanking God many times a day that we were not on the worst of sandy's path.
     We have offered our apt., power, showers and what not.  It seems as if everyone across the city who has something, would like to give.  Especially those who we are close too.  As predicted, people have been without power for a week.  Many, most who we know, have had that luxury restored.  The power turns on from the epicenter of the world and is lighting up the many communities that are without.  I easily put myself in there place.  Mothers with newborns, children who should be in school, fathers who can't work, but the bills will keep coming.  Even those people who had evacuated to shelters for the storm are returning home to find nothing.  Petrified of being in shelters where they are ontop of people who have stability issues, mental issues...the existing homeless, who also need help.  On the second or third rotation of the dirty clothes they've been wearing, trying to keep themselves and their children clean on a dwindling supply of sanitizer.  It's the Thursday after the storm, almost 4 days and the stories of need are pouring in.
     Social media is spreading it's collective angel wings and putting the needy with those who can help.   Being a part of the New York community is like nothing I've ever known.  All the chraities in NY are at volunteer capacity.  Amazing.  That is something to celebrate.  Beyond that, we need to find how else we can help.  Just because the establishments can't handle anymore man power, it doesn't mean that there is not still an overwhelming need in communities that they haven't been able to get to.  As the days go on, communities are starting to communicate like a great game of telephone, that they are in desperate need.  Luckily, there are people who desperately want to help.  For most New Yorkers, like myself, we don't have any real legitimate way to get to the hardest hit places.  We don't have cars and I myself have a 2 year old to watch after as Eric was lucky enough to go back to work, pretty much immediately.  I have felt crippled the first few days in the aftermath.  Seeing all this need around us and having no way to help.  The storm clouds are lifting though and the lights are on enough that we are getting specific word of different communities that need our help.  As a stranger to most places we've been living in the past 2 years, our nomadic life led me to the internet for a community of moms.  Returning to NYC in September, brought me to a meet-up group for moms in my area.  This group, along with my Facebook network of people have found ways to give.  People who have reached out for help are being heard and answered.  I'm seeing groups of actors finding ways to give.
      We can do this.  We can help bring communities back and prove that we can be bigger than ourselves.  Responding when you have the chance is when to do it.  Don';t think that next week, you'll do that.  Tonight you have that dinner you are supposed to go to.  Get online and spend $50 giving to Redcross or sending something to the shelters.  If you know a family that has been hit, give directly to them.  It will be weeks until theis is figured out and people return to work and have clean clothes and some semblance of a life they once knew.
      These people are our neighbors.  It's as if it happen to you and everyone around you that you would lean on in a disaster.  Now, who do you turn to?  Social media has made us all neighbors.  Let's get out there.  If you are like me and don't have the freedom to go there, put your money where your mouth is.

During Sandy

Eric informed me before he went to his show that it would just be a few drops of rain.  He informed me that if he was wrong, I had full permission to hold it over his head and say...I told you so.   Preparing the apartment, getting water, flashlights, filling the bathtub, getting can foods, I hoped I wouldn't have to take him up on his oh so generous offer.  I was closely monitoring this storm, as I had so many before.  Growing up in Florida, I am no stranger to hurricanes. I knew that this was going to be bad.  Being so close to the water there was going to be no avoiding the battering of a storm so big and slow.  The only question was...how bad will it be for us?  The subways closed down, all of downtown Manhattan lost power, and they began announcing no school or service the following day/days in NYC.  As the night went on, the winds picked up and shook our windows on the 12th floor.  I huge hawk, about 3 ft tall was blown into our window and took refuge on our fire escape.  I opened the curtain to see what the commotion was and there was my friend, the hawk, looking at me as if to say, help me, lady.  He was remarkably huge. We even got to see him spread his wings in an attempt to air them out.  His time in our refuge was short and he was soon blown away.  We had some flickering of the lights, but the power stayed on.  Sophie was unable to go to bed as the heart of the storm was between 6 and midnight.  The wind and rain beat on the windows in the bedroom, so we made a Rain Party and let her stay up late.  Our party had popcorn and milk accompanied by Rapunzel and Tinkerbell movies.  At midnight, as the worst of Sandy moved out, Sophie crashed into bed and slept late into the morning. We are waking to see how everyone else survived the storm, as we did.

Growing Pains

I realized shortly after being here that Sophie would love to have some friends, like those few we had developed in L.A.  I kept my eyes peeled at the park for a mom.  I see one!  I see one!  Oh my gosh, she has a daughter that is exactly Sophie's age.  She initiates some small talk...the old "how old is she,she's cute, and where do you live."  She decides I'm ok and we stick together throughout the park.  Soph is eyeing her older kids and trying to keep up.  As she can't climb as high or run as fast as the 7 yr olds, she becomes upset.  I calm her down and we head to the sandpit.  I set Sophie inside, next to the other sweet little girl and perch on the edge next to her mom.  We start chatting about schools and things to do.  It's going well, I think.  Definitely going to get her number and try to do a playdate.  They live close and the girls are playing well.  I'm just so excited!  The girls are playing just out of reach and I'm staring at Soph and daydreaming of a long friendship of park days, museums, and ice cream outings.  Soph looks back at me as if she can read my mind and then...it happened.  Her eyes glazed over, she took the shovel full of sand in her hand and poured it directly down the front of her own coat.  Embarrassed, I quickly got up and brushed her off asking why she would do that and telling her that is not what a shovel is for.  I go back to my seat and turn around to see.  Dun, dun, dunnnnn.  Sophie stares at me stone-cold and pours and shovel full of dirt down the other little girls shirt.  Immediately, I jump to my feet and demand an apology.  My reprimand is meet with that new stone-cold stare.  What is happening?  And why now?  I gave Sophie to the count of 3 to apologize.  With each number, I knew that this was not happening and the Time Out of her life would have to be enforced when we got home.  As I picked Sophie up, I apologized to the other mom and got our things together.  Other Mom was very kind, but gave me the definative brush off with the, "I hope it all works out.  Good luck."  She said it in that way that she never planned on seeing me again in her life, as if we had just bombed a job interview.  As I pushed Sophie up the hill back towards the apartment, she began to sing.  I kept stopping to remind her of how much trouble she was in.  As we enter the apartment, she literally has her arms out in flight and is singing at the top of her lungs.  She's so sure she has gotten her way.  I had to giggle a bit behind the stroller at the absurdity of all this, but then I knew I needed to enforce our rules and be the Momminator.  I came around the edge of the stroller and heard my own mother's stern voice come out as I walked her to the corner of the bedroom to face the wall and explained how hurtful her actions were to the other little girl and to me.  She was crying from the second she got down.  After a good 3 minutes in Time Out, I went in to talk.  True sadness and understanding came from the same eyes that had just been cold.  Wow.  I could not believe the power of the Time Out.  The next day, we were on the other side of things at the park and Sophie did a complete 180.  She was an angel child.  What do you know?  All those people that say kids need clear boundaries and discipline are right.  It actually works!  As for the friends that were at our fingertips...oh well.  These things happen.  Sophie and I both grew that day is our respective roles as Mommy and Daughter.  That growth is the important thing to take away from our morning at the park.

Here we go again!

Eric booked a Broadway show.  We are leaving our home in L.A. and heading to New York for the Fall!  Peter and the Starcatcher is the kind of show that reawakens your artistic spirit.  It will be great to have that in his fuel tank going into pilot season.  We could all feel New York calling us.  We packed up the house, got some sub-letters and headed out top the big apple.  This was sure to be a great experience for all of us.  Eric will get his artistic fulfillment, I will get to be with Sophie full-time again, and Sophie is at an age where she is learning so much and what better place to be stimulated than New York City!  Here we go again!