Wednesday, October 1, 2003:
Caitlin goes to ____ for a soccer party. Sharon takes Drew and Sarah to Life is Beautiful. The littles and I read a lot of Tomie de Paula, then get some paper out to try to copy his tricks. I put on Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. The boys choreograph their own the-sea’s-a-mystery dance. A phone call interrupts Charles Burnett’s blues program on TV. It’s Caitlin, who wants a ride for her and her friends. So I make my way out to darkest, wealthiest Mapleton. The girls jump in and commence talking in their horrible lingo, tinged now with a bit of envy and avarice. I’m just driving, but I’m also noticing that the girls are enjoying themselves, and each other, and that this Arabian Nights wistfulness is not likely to do any permanent damage.
I catch one of the kids thinking that I’m slightly cool. (Was it the Led Zeppelin?) Caitlin is thinking about this. We have a nice talk on the way back, mostly made up of my very sincere approval of and gratitude for her excellent academic showing. My movie is over, but sometimes it’s okay, and even pleasurable, to lose, or rather to give up your plans for the sake of one of your charges.