solo with los ninos

husband in la until next monday, sigh.

actually we're doing ok, got lots of stuff going on. parker and i are having a mother/daughter afternoon.

nino is at natasha's russian family daycare out in the avenues. she runs a tight ship over there in the outer sunset. it's the anti-laurel hill nursery school. they have structured activities including gymnastics with mr. alex, the stocky, gruff gym coach with a thick russian accent. it's so cute to see thesee babies and toddlers respond to his commands to walk the balace beam, "throw ball" and do the obstacle course. none of them would dare not obey.

natasha also has a russian music teacher who plasters her face with makeup (kind of a weird eastern bloc thing) and brings her portable keyboard to play for the kids. they have regimented naptime, and the older kids do worksheets to learn the alphabet, colors, numbers, etc.

at laurel hill, the kids play and do art projects all day and often run around completely naked...

i dropped parker off at her hippie preschool yesterday – free love, nudity and art – and stopped at the laurel hill playground next door. i have been hearing for years about a child development program there run by city college and thought i'd check it out.

it's was pretty cool. it's a child observation class to learn about development through play, with professional guidance. it's set up like a preschool, but geared for younger kids. there's an indoor art area and a great playground with tennis courts with lots of little ride in/on vehicles. roman loved it, but kept wanting to run into the bathroom to play hide-and-go-seek. eventually he slipped on the tile floor and split his lip. great parenting. letting the kid run around in the bathroom. i decided to sign us up...

too close to home

i recently reported to the criminal court of san francisco for a jury summons.

i entered the huge courtroom, watched a video with the other prospective jurors, then proceeded to fill out the paperwork that indicating that i take care of my children two days a week, so please don't put me on a jury.

the guy next to me, a retiree, filled out the lengthy questionnaire given to those who weren't seeking to be excused.

i forget what prompted me to do it, but i asked him what the case was about.

he showed me the front page of the questionnaire where i read about the case of linda woo, who asphyxiated her three-year-old daughter and attempted to do in her four-year-old son and herself at the same time. the boy lived but is brain damaged.

it gets even crazier for me. this story was hauntingly familiar. a friend of mine told me about this happening to a family at her co-op preschool. which is now our co-op preschool.

coincidence?

the next day was my work day at laurel hill. i hadn't been able to sleep well, thinking about how linda woo borrowed a subaru outback (my current ride), told her kids she was taking them camping, and then shut them in the wagon with her, a suicide note, and a lit hibachi.

i told our director anne about my summons and the crime being prosecuted. before i could even get the word "asphyxiated" out, she pulled me into her office and broke down. yes, it was true. linda, her husband and kids were once one of us.

just another family at a preschool in san francisco.

boy, oh boy

i got myself a true XY testosterone fueled boy. nothing effete or delicate about this kid.

so different from my little girl who sat on the floor and quietly watched signing videos in a pink cotton frock.

last week he tore the toilet seat off its hinges and busted into the liquor cabinet. childproofed? yup, it was. roman-proof? clearly not. seems to be pretty early to be breaking into the hooch at 18 months...

we had a little family vacation last week. i reviewed the children's suite at hotel union square for uptake. what a great idea! i didn't know what to expect and we had a really fun night. i even got to try my hand at the wii for the first time. i sucked. big surprise.

then it was up to sonoma for the weekend to visit the grandparents where i ate perhaps the best cracked crab of my life, picked up fresh by pops and dan that morning in bodega bay.

parker and i visited a few places for me to write about for uptake including sugarloaf ridge state park in kenwood. staggeringly beautiful even in sunday's gray drizzle. we're going back next month to the observatory for an aries full moon party.

no big news chez chron yet. the vote to ratify took place over the weekend but the ax has yet to fall. we remain in a sort of purgatory awaiting our fates...

good news about my website which is forthcoming at lisadion.com. got some preliminary designs from carey who is working on it. very excited!

happy patty's day.

sweetness and uncertainty

chronicle employees who are part of the media guild met with our union reps yesterday to discuss out fate.

i waffle between thinking i should try to ride it out and hang onto my paycheck till they pack up the presses or volunteering for a buyout and embracing a new life as a stay at home mom (SAHM for those who don't speak mommyblog). i'm going to get some good advice, then go with my gut...

i left work after the meeting to go to parent observation day at miss tilly's ballet studio.

parker couldn't find her new ballet shows and once again had to borrow a pair from miss tilly. she's currently sporting a brow-raising shiner on her right eye and the vestiges of light blue marker that she and her buddy alexandra painted their faces with at school yesterday, before getting busted in the bathroom. then there was the "tattoo" on her arm that i tried to scrub off, but i just ended up like a big purple bruise.

so, there we were at miss tilly's powder pink waiting room with the pacific-heights-hamlin-school money crowd. miss tilly invited us in after she assembled all of the little dancers in their positions seated on the floor. i gasped when i saw them -- all small and pink and adorable in little tutus -- and instantly teared up. it was the sweetest thing ever.

miss tilly is amazing. she has to be in her sixties or better and she jetes around her airy, bright california street studio, in tights and a leotard, still checking her perfect form in the mirrors. her hair is coiffed, makeup impeccable and there's not a drop of cellulite on those firm dancers legs. i had parker on a waiting list for two years to get her into miss tilly's. she loves it.

miss tilly puts up with nothing, chastising parents who try to slip in late and chatty 4-year-old girls equally. you meet her and instantly know who's boss. it was so sweet to watch these little girls practice plies, hops and bows with "miss wendy" playing tchaikovsky on the piano.

a nice antidote to the chronicle hysteria.

ripping off the bandaid

i'm at my desk at the chron as i write this. it's eerily quiet outside the door of my office, but for the most part, it continues to be business as usual.

i just finished up friday cars -- this week a review of the 2009 hyundai genesis and click and clack -- the car talk guys -- talking about spiders in the fuel line.

we've gotten some bulletins from the union reps, but they don't say anything. we're just holding our breath, waiting for hearst to rip off the bandaid.

last tuesday after the big announcement, i teared up when i saw the news on tv, then i became numb. i came home and took to bed with the baby. no dinner. no conversation. dan thoughtfully brought me a chilled glass of chardonnay. i didn't touch it.

but after a day or two of mulling it over, i realized it/we would be ok. the guild will come to some type of agreement (probably including wage freezes, vacation give-backs and reduced bennies), lots of people will lose their jobs, the paper will stumble on.

and if i lose mine, i'll stumble on, too.