“You Put Your Pants On By Yourself!”
As a child, I was amazed when my parents did things that I could not do. One of my favorite childhood quotes was when I turned to my dad and exclaimed: "You put your pants on by yourself!" Today, Ari followed in the footsteps of Jeff Fader, my dad, and put his pants on "by himself."
“I Wanna Walk Myself!”
This morning as we were leaving the playground I attempted to put Ari back in the stroller and he said: "I wanna walk myself!" I was shocked, because he loves to sit on his throne...I mean sit in his stroller. But I was thrilled that he actually wanted to walk! The only trouble was, that he was distracted by everything, so it took an extremely long time to get home. The only way I was able to get him to keep going was to tell him that there were more leaves in the backyard at home. For those of you with children, when did they start to walk functionally?
My 31st Birthday
I got home last night from Mint's wedding (which was so much fun by the way) and immediately checked the mailbox. I found this:I opened the envelope to find this:Thank you Kyle! Kyle, whom I have known since I was around seven years old. Thank you for a wonderful start to my birthday! And look! I already got my chocolate cake.That was last night. This morning at 5am, Wil woke me up out of a deep sleep to which my repsonse was:"WHAT?!""Happy Birthday!" He exclaimed and gave me a kiss.I guess he was so excited about my birthday that he couldn't sleep. So he went to the kitchen and made some eggs. Ari realized that Wil wasn't in the bed, and woke up saying:"Daddy? Daddy!" Then he demanded to watch Blue's Clues. Wil obliged him and I went back to sleep. Later I found out that they had not watched Blue's Clues, but rather Terminator 2 because Ari was demanding to see "robots."I slept till 8:30am. When I woke up, I found Wil and Ari back in the bed, but I can't remember how or when they got there. It's now 10:32am and they're still asleep. More later.It's now 12:20pm. [...]
The Thursday In Which I Became Kris Kross
This morning I met my friend Jenn and her baby Jonathan who is only six weeks old. When they arrived, I was thought I was ready to face the day. Until I realized that there was something wrong with my pants. I couldn't seem to fit my cell phone the back pocket. Then I looked down and found this to be the case:Pregnancy brain has struck again. I made Jenn take this picture to document how much I've lost it. I cannot believe I actually put my pants on backwards.After I corrected my dressing mistake, we headed out to get Ari a haircut. I needed to fix my "mom cut" before Mint's impending nuptials. Needless to say, Ari was displeased with the whole process of getting his hair trimmed, but here are the results. Ari standing with Jenn and Jonathan at the barber shop Ari complaining about his haircutAfter the haircut was over, we went out for pizza and got to admire sweet little Jonathan and his mama. I forgot how small and cute babies are at six weeks! When all the humans were all fed, we bought some cat food, which my cats were grateful for later, and headed [...]
A Miraculous Thing Happened Today!
I was out to lunch with Ari today in my neighborhood. I was standing at the cash register at this sandwich shop, when a woman gasped as she looked down at my feet. "Your shoe is untied!" She said in horrified voice. "Do you want me to tie it for you? I mean, you're pregnant!" It only took me a second to reply: "Yes! Thank you so much!" With that, she bent down, tied my shoe and then paused. "Do you want me to double knot it?" "That would be great!" I said stifling a laugh as she saved the day. In fact, her handy work is still in place.
Wordless Wednesday: Brunch
All photographs © 2010 Craig Runyan
Donut Hole Drama
Today I drove into Manhattan to see my friend Andrea and her husband Craig for brunch. Since I've become a mother, my concept of time has gotten a lot better, which means instead of being perpetually late for things (as I was when I was childless) I am now incredibly early for things.We were supposed to meet up at noon, and I got to the city at 1o:30am. So Ari and I strolled around in search of a playground to kill time at.I took Ari to an beautiful playground on 10th Avenue in Chelsea. It was so nice, I considered getting married to Wil there. My doula, Cori, paid $15 for a city permit and got married at the Park Slope playground.Ari was having a lovely time as I pushed him on the swing. He kept saying "again!" And I kept on pushing. Until I had to pee. Yes, one of the many joys of pregnancy struck again.I found a charming family owned Italian restaurant nearby. They agreed to let me use their facilities. The manager was Israeli and we got to talking about Judaism and Israel. He was excited when he found out Ari's name and impressed by the [...]
Don’t Ask Me to Do Anything, I’m Pregnant and Overwhelmed
In the past couple of days I've received requests from several people, friends and family, to help them with one thing or another. I know why they're asking me. It's because I tend to get things done. Yes, I'm neurotic and anal retentive enough that I can effectively research something and help you with your task, whatever that may be.I want to take a moment to tell all of you who have asked me for help, thank you! Thank you for having so much faith in my ability to get things done.Now, I'd like to say something else. Please don't ask me to do anything for the next week. Mint's wedding is approaching and I am pregnant, overwhelmed and have no brain.Once again, I'd like to thank everyone for your faith on my capabilities, but I can't help you right now.This has been a public service announcement from Sarah Fader.
Feeling Isolated
When I became a mother, my life changed dramatically. My whole focus was on this new baby in front of me. As Ari has gotten older, I've found it harder and harder to maintain the friendships I had when I was without child.I see my friends, but it's not on a regular basis. It feels very random and scattered. On the weekends I like to spend time with Wil because those are his only days off. My free time to hang out with friends is during the week. But, most people are working during the week and are unavailable to hang out.Also, if I manage to score a hang out session with a single friend, Ari is there and demands the majority of the attention. It's difficult to finish a conversation when my child is making random tribal noises.My friends who have kids also have complicated schedules, some of them are working, some of them are involved in paid classes that they take their kids to, i.e. sing-a-longs, tumbling, dancing on the ceiling. I don't know, whatever it is they do.The point is, I end up feeling lonely a lot of the time. I love spending time with Ari, taking [...]
Friday Night Fun With a Cardboard Box
I got an email today from Discount School Supply advertising Halloween craft projects. I started to get that itch to buy something, only I don't have any money to buy anything with. So I called my friend Nora, early childhood teacher and mother to two pre-teen girls. I asked her what art materials would be age appropriate for Ari. It turned out, I didn't need to buy anything at all."Do you have a cardboard box?" She asked"Yes! I do." I replied, already getting excited.In fact, we had a lot of cardboard boxes because we had our groceries delivered this morning."Bring one of the boxes in, and let Ari paint it!" Nora suggested.I immediately grabbed a box and some paint.Ari immediately got to work.The end product was this:I cannot tell a lie, I joined him. This is not all his work. It was a joint effort and a lot of fun. Plus, I didn't have to buy anything!After we completed this project, it occurred to me that a long time ago, I wrote about this very topic here.
Teaching is Like Parenting
Yesterday I subbed for second grade. It was a CTT class, which stands for Collaborative Team Teaching. I had the pleasure of co-teaching another teacher. I was taken aback by how effective she was with the kids. It was quite a large group, 28 of them, and at any given moment there was a child having a difficult time paying attention.When the kid would "act out" by calling out with out raising their hand, start touching the dry erase board in a distracting way, talking to their friend loudly and other disruptive behaviors, the teacher would calmly and quietly turn to that child and say:"Joey, take a break."Joey would quietly confidently walk from the rug (where the rest of the class was sitting) and sit in a seat at an empty table. Then after a minute or so, Joey would meander back to the rug and have a more successful time focusing.This whole exchange got me thinking about parenting. As a classroom teacher, you are responsible for the well-being of 28 children.Their well-being encompasses their physical state- making sure they don't harm themselves or another child physically, and their emotional state, making sure they maintain a level of emotional balance. [...]
Dude, Does Your Mom Cut Your Hair?
Ari's hair grows incredibly fast. When it gets too long, I turn to Wil to cut it. I'm not particularly good at cutting hair, and we can't afford to pay for a professional hair cut. So when I noticed that my child's hair was starting to resemble a mullet, I begged Wil to work his magic with the scissors. He kept saying he would do it, and just "never got around to it."Finally, I'd had enough. So I went for it myself.We visited my friend Cordy today, and she graciously allowed me to shear my son in her bathroom.Here's how my work turned out:Yes, it's uneven, and it totally looks like a mom cut it, which I did.When I returned home, Wil gasped:"You cut his hair?!""Yes, because you kept saying you were going to do it, and you never did!" He replied.He proceeded to whip out his scissors to "fix" my work.Are you brave enough to cut your kid's hair or do you take them to have it done elsewhere?
Why I Want to Leave New York
I've lived in New York City my entire life, almost 31 years, however (I'm sorry to report) I'm tired of it. The other day, I was getting ready to leave my house and as I opened the front door, there was a homeless man sitting on the steps of my building drinking a beer. Needless to say, it was an awkward situation. I was standing there with Ari in the stroller knowing that I needed to bypass this man to exit my building, but not knowing exactly how to proceed.To make matters worse, he started talking to me."You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" He asked.Not wanting to get into a confrontation at 9am, I told him I didn't mind, but I could really use some help getting my stroller into the car. I mean, if he was sitting there anyway he might as well assist me, right?It wasn't an ideal situation, but I made the best of it. However, I'd like to live in a place where this scenario would not occur. I'd rather not have to wonder if strangers will be sitting outside my door as I leave for the day.Now, don't get me wrong, I [...]
My Birthday, Lucky 31 Approaches
Every year, in October, I get anxious. Because I know that come October 17th, I will be another year older. It's not the aging that frightens me, it's the fact that it is my birthday.Birthdays in my family are a big deal. As a child, they were built up to being on the same level as a national holiday. Therefore, I expected that everybody that was important to me would make the same fuss about my birthday as my family did.So, last year, when there wasn't a carnival or blimp flying outside my apartment that said:"HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY SARAH FADER!"I became very sad. I believe that on my actual 30th birthday last year, Wil was working.Each year, he insists that he is going to do something "really cool" for my birthday, and then we end up just hanging around the house, not doing anything particularly exciting.Mint and I went to see "Where The Wild Things Are" with Ari, which was fun but Wil and I didn't get to do anything, because he was working, and that was disappointing.This year, I've informed him, that I want him to do something for my birthday. Look, I don't want a pony, a trip [...]
Do Witches Make Fishes? Let’s Ask Jason Mayo!
Since Jason Mayo's children's book, Do Witches Make Fishes, came out I've wanted to read it.The book is about a boy who rejects his mother's healthy meals for junk food. His penchant for unhealthy snacks sends him on a mystical journey (involving a witch naturally) and forces him to confront his questionable eating habits.One of the things that attracted me to this particular book is that the profits from the sale of Do Witches Make Fishes go to the Garden of Dreams charity, a non-profit charity that provides kids in crisis with access to events and activities at Madison Square Garden.Jason was kind enough to let us pick up a copy of the book at his office today. He will be doing a reading of Do Witches Make Fishes at my school soon, so I wanted to grab it and familiarize myself with the material before the reading.Ari and I jumped in the car and headed to Manhattan!Though he appears discontented in this picture, he was merely concerned that I might steal his "Yo Gabba Gabba" library book from him mid-ride.We arrived in Manhattan and drove around for a long time until we found parking. Truthfully, I was glad we [...]