(Wo)man in the mirror

I have finally figured out how to keep my kids under control, which is to keep them busy. Danny and I decided to put Dominic in preschool gymnastics to help with that. Besides occupying two hours of his week, we hope he'll burn some energy there and maybe even get some climbing out of his system. So that hopefully, I wont find him on the roof of my car again.

I knew I was taking a risk by waking up this morning without a plan. The consequences of my decision were realized within an hour of Dominic's waking up- one of Amy's books was torn to shreds on the dining room floor. I have no idea how he got his hands on it, and I am painfully aware that out-of-print books based on characters from short-lived 80s cartoons are nearly impossible to replace. Dominic, not so aware, was smiling at me as if he'd done me a favor. I developed a plan post-haste, to go to the library. The Kendall branch library, where I used to live, isn't as pre-school friendly as I hoped, and we had to make due with a "room" partially closed in by shelves full of picture books. Dominic and Noemie worked on puzzles and read books about abandoned toys, sea captains, and vegetable colors, while I tried to dodge a hyper 5 year old with a thick, gurgly cough. The foam chairs that we were sitting on started to feel distinctly grimy. The air felt thick with killer spores and my throat started to swell. Germophobia overtook me. I fought it as long as I could, as gurgly-cough-boy ran circles around me, tackled chairs and rolled on the carpet. When he walked up to Noemie and gave her a big hug, we called it a day and headed for home.

Two days ago, a little boy gave Noemie a kiss. Either the kids here are much friendlier than in Tallahassee, or Noemie is quite the charmer. I hope its the former. As it is, she has much better dancing skills than I do and she loves to dress up. She's always asking us to put her shoes on. And she loves to dig her fingernails into makeup kits and lipsticks. On the other hand, 70% of my wardrobe hasn't changed in 10 years. Most of the clothes I wear today, I wore in highschool. On her last visit, Melissa sharply reproached me for wearing cut-offs. I haven't watched TV in ages... is that not "in" anymore? During a game of charades last night, someone had to perform Manolo Blah-something. Some shoe designer. I've never heard of him. In Tallahasse, this was not a problem. In Miami, this is a problem. Not having your eyebrows maintained...big problem. Legs must be freshly shaven and moisturized at all times. Chipped nail polish is a no-no, even on your toes. These kinds of things I already know, even if I fail to keep up on most days that I walk out the front door. But what I'm completely clueless about is clothes. Emily Villa de Rey is coming in a few days. Her giftedness is in "personal shopping." I am taking her to Dolphin Mall and when I come back, you may not recognize me. Yay! (That's not really true. I only have like $30, but I'm going to stretch those $30 as far as I can!)

Also, super sad about MJ. I'm so glad it didn't happen on my birthday. Dominic can now recognize and say "Michael Jackson", and sings the chorus to ABC. Our tribute.