You Deserve Prison But You Won't Get Time
Processing the election and spending time with family who are back across the Pond.
Hello all. This post took me longer to write because of traveling back to the city and our visitors and also because I was just not in the mood after the Election to write. I have stopped writing about my thoughts and feelings on politics on my social media accounts, but Substack is different. Fair warning, I am going to discuss my thoughts and feelings about this election. I know everyone who reads will not agree with me, but I hope you continue reading and come back. Well, let’s get into it!
My Five Senses
Sights- Baby V. This past Thursday Aunt Mel Mel, Uncle Clay, and Baby V came into town. We have not seen them since Thanksgiving. My sister in law, who is a genius, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship during her Doctorate studies and she and her family went off to the UK for six months. Had we stayed in Atlanta and not been moving, we would have gone to visit them but due to our big life changes, we could not swing it. We finally got to see them after almost a year. Baby V is a year old now and so sweet. I think she is the first of my nieces or nephews to take to me so quickly, probably because she was scared of Colton. We had a great time ordering in Chinese and catching up on their first night here. We got to get brunch and shopped around on Friday. We ended that evening with dinner on the rooftop of Eataly, which is already decorated for Christmas. On Saturday, we took them down to a great playground in Battery Park City and because Baby V still takes naps, they walked to Soho to shop around and grab pizza with a sleeping baby in a stroller. Colton and I took the boys to lunch and then headed back to the apartment. The boys were IN LOVE with Baby V, especially T. He loves babies and is so good with them. He is surprisingly gentle (wish he was that way with his brother) and will suffocate them with love and attention. We were constantly saying “give her space.” Our time together was great and we were all sad to see them go, but at least we are not going a year without seeing them, rather a month until we see them around Christmas.
Sounds- A Mouse Trap Snap. As I have mentioned a million times, we have caught one mouse and there was one mouse left. We had seen it run from the kitchen once or twice and it had been avoiding every trap full of peanut butter. These city mice are too smart! Well, the only bright spot from Election Night is while I was sitting on the couch, dissociating from reality, I heard a loud snap from our coat closet. I peaked and there was the mouse. I woke Colton up and had him dispose of it. I felt bad. It was cute and so little, but then I remembered the poop and I quickly felt victorious. So far we have not seen any evidence of another mouse and I am hoping that becomes the norm.
Smells- Sewer meets Clorox. When we came home from Eataly I went to the kitchen to put away some leftovers and our kitchen was FLOODED! It smelled like the sewer, but also had a hospital cleaning supply smell to it. We texted our super and he was up within twenty minutes to fix it. He says this happens a few times a year with the pipes. No wonder our lower cabinets are a bit warped! Thankfully it was “cleaned” but those who know me know I went back with some bleach products and cleaned it to my standards.
Tastes- Chinese Food. I feel that Chinese food is becoming my new comfort food. My former coworker, Alli, once said that she thinks my comfort food is rice. She noticed I would always order a side of rice when we went to Japanese, or Mexican, or Indian. Yes, Spanish teachers LOVE international flavors and I guess she was right about my love of rice. Anyway, I do love to order a side of rice with my Chinese order. It is fast and honestly I love the iconic NYC take out boxes.
Emotions/Feelings-Numbness. I doubt that it is a surprise to any reader that I am a Democrat. I voted for Kamala and was excited to see a woman in the highest office. As I was watching the returns on Tuesday, I started to feel more and more numb. Honestly, I am shocked that more than half of America decided to give Donald Trump a second chance. Like I understand, the economy is not great. Groceries are expensive (trust me, I am paying Manhattan prices) and it is harder to buy (and even sell) a house. But I am shocked that people think Trump is our answer or that he actually cares for the blue collar American even though he has yet to show it. I am also not saying that the Democrats have A LOT of reflecting to do between now and 2026, because they do. They need to figure out a more central, moderate voice for the party. But I am still shocked that people who witnessed January 6th think that Trump reflects the greatness of America.
I am not worried for myself personally with him coming back into office, but I am worried for my children. I have two boys. I feel the President should be somebody that they can look at and see that hard work and kindness will get you far. Sadly, I personally do not feel that way about Trump. My kids will see the leader of the free world who is a convicted felon, a known sexual abuser, a liar, an unfaithful partner, and a narcissist. I am also scared for S. Trump plans to get rid of the Department of Education, which sends funds for special education to states and their districts. Georgia was already not giving us the resources we wanted for S, hence our move to NYC. I can’t imagine the repercussions when the federal government is not holding the states accountable. This bothers me the most not only as a mom, but as a former educator.
I also find the most troubling aspect of this whole election is the continued rise of Christian Nationalism. I am sorry, but the Jesus I grew up learning and reading about is not an “American First” Savior. He was there for the widow, the poor, the broken. I have never once seen Trump show any fruits of the spirit. As a former Spanish teacher, the hatred towards immigrants, the lack of understanding about the situations that bring them to our country, and how much they contribute to our economy hurts my heart. I saw a meme this week that parents often say “I would kill for my child” but apparently “I would illegally cross borders for a safer life” is too far. It sums up my feelings on the issue so well.
I warned you, I was going to get a bit political. I am passionate about my beliefs and wanting better for my children, as I am sure many of my readers are. Maybe that is one thing we can agree on.
Five Things I Learned This Week
The boy’s room becomes a sauna when the radiators go full blast. We are learning all about radiators this month. From how loud they are to how hot they get. It has been very chilly this past week, in the 30s, and the radiators (which are heated via steam) have been on full blast. The boys’ room got up to 81 degrees. Most people suggest opening a window, but being on the second floor I fear a rat or pigeon will come in. Also, the boys’ window does not open at all, which honestly is a blessing when you have S as a child. Thank goodness for Reddit, because we learned how to close the valve to the very old radiators in our pre-war building. We just are now letting the radiators in the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the living room heat the apartment. Also, they make the house so dry. I think some cool mist humidifiers are on our next Target order.
S loves a reference book. Every week, S’s class goes to the library and the kids are able to pick out a book. Every week S brings home some sort of reference book. Out of the 8 weeks in school, all but one have been reference books. So far we have read books about food groups, Antarctica, police cars, protein foods, homes around the world, and this week he picked up a book on Halloween. It is now becoming a running joke of what book he will bring. I am glad he is a curious learner and wants to dive deeper into subjects but these books are not fun bedtime reads.
Our children are loved at their school. This past week the boys’ school had conferences. We met, via Zoom, with S’s teachers first. They had great things to say about him. They see how smart he is and how well he can sign. It also seems that he saves the violent outbursts and screaming for us, because they do not see that with him. They did say he struggles to sit throughout lunch, which is something we are dealing with all the time. We then met with T’s teachers and I almost left that meeting in tears. Happy tears. You can really tell that they love him and they had nothing but wonderful things to share. Apparently he is excelling at math and they said once he gets letter recognition down, watch out world. They also said that he is such a good friend to others and also is great at leading class discussions. That boy has a heart of gold, which he got from Colton. I am so thankful my boys are in a school where they are loved and cared for. It has made this transition to NYC easier.
Camp wears Gatsby out. While we were in Atlanta, Gatsby went to his camp in Pennsylvania. He got another glowing report, but I think even after being home for almost a week he is recovering from it. He sleeps a lot and is not too rowdy in the house. Also, he is an old man, so recovery just takes longer.
I am thankful we didn’t have a baby in NYC. While I loved having Baby V in town, I also reflected on how much harder the city would be with a baby. Our room is small. I mean we had to downsize from our king bed to a queen. We gave Mel and Clay our room and also put a pack n play in it and it was VERY tight. Also if your child is not deaf, they wake up at sirens and honks in the middle of the night. I guess one of the perks is that your stroller is also great from running errands with and storing the items below.
Things I Am Loving This Week
A New York City Christmas-NYC is starting to put out their Christmas decorations and there really is not city like New York during Christmas. Many of the Christmas markets are starting to open up. I cannot wait to explore and enjoy all the Christmas offerings with the boys.
T’s sense of fashion. T has gotten very opinionated on his clothing in the recent months. This weekend, T saw a Janie and Jack store and wanted to go inside. He picked out this outfit. Colton said he also wanted a fedora, but he talked him out of it. Sweet boys just wants to look nice (and Christmasy).
TikTok- When the world feels like it is burning, you can always trust TikTok to see that others feel the same and also can laugh at our pain. I have enjoyed disassociating on TikTok this past week.
We are visitor free until after Thanksgiving, so we are back to our routine. We have some fun things planned for the coming week. We will be taking advantage of living in the greatest city during the happiest season of all!