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Danger in suburbia

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Yesterday I found out from my neighbor that a convicted sexual offender had moved in just up the road. He was convicted of sexual assault on a 13 year old girl.  He happens to live very close to where my 6th grader catches the bus in the morning.  Of course it sent chills down my spine and the proximity freaked me out.  Once I had taken a deep breath I realized a couple of things: Suburbia is like any other place, you find all kinds of people here living side by side. In the city we were probably surrounded by convicted criminals and we just didn't know about it. At least here, I know that we live in a community where we look out for each other, especially our kids. I can't tell you how quickly my friend's email went viral around our neighborhood.  So this man is living down the street, close to potential targets but he is surrounded by vigilant, caring parents who will now be even more vigilant. One last thought,  people who are considering a move to the bu
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Soccer Coach

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Since I was going to be at all of my daughter's soccer games I decided to take the soccer mom thing to the next logical step and be a coach.  I got the background check, I did the online training and then patiently waited to see who my co-coach would be. The one that would make coaching 10 kindergarteners fun !  Three days before the season begins an e-mail from the soccer commissioner finally arrives. In it I found out that I'm coaching with two other dads.  "What!!! I'm coaching with two other guys?!" I say to my husband.  This threw me off the whole ideal that I was going to have a fun girlfriend and together we would be great models for our girls. It also set me off on a "hear us roar" soliloquy... "If these guys think that I'm going to pick up the team t-shirts, get the team list out to the parents, send out reminder emails and organize snack while they sit back and pretend to coach the kids, they are dead wrong!" I say to my
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Note to self

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This Monday morning was a little bit more rushed than usual. But I managed to make everyone lunch, morning snack and breakfast. Remembered Theo's library book and Bella's PTA note. I remembered to give school supplies for the kids' class. Most importantly I remembered it was picture day so I made sure Theo wore a clean shirt and braided Bella's hair. I felt pretty good about doing all of that in an hour. In the middle of this whirlwind, my 6th grader was having a hard time getting up this morning so I sweetly offered to drive him to school, half way across town. You can't be late in middle school or you get a detention! So we hop in the car, make our way through the traffic and make it to the front of the school with 2 minutes to spare. I'm feeling so good that we've made it when I look down and realize that I'm wearing my pink pajama bottoms and a bright pink flimsy tank top and that Gabriel needs me to get out of the car and open the door for him. O
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Here's the problem!

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On Tuesday a 15 year old cross country runner got hit by a minivan. Everyone had an opinion about it!  My take is that drivers in Westport think they are superheroes. Everyone here thinks they can drive a car, text, speak on the phone and yell at their kids in the back sit all at once and still get from point A to point B without hurting anyone! Today I was behind a car that had a bumper sticker that really spoke to me. It read "Put the phone down and no one will go hurt." I loved it and instantly wanted one for my car. Two seconds later I saw the driver of the car not only look down at her phone to read a text, as she was pulling away, but she put on her glasses because she couldn't read the text, as she was driving.  There you have it in a nutshell, why none of us are safe on the roads of Westport. 
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Enjoy the silence!

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This morning at around 8:01am I thought I heard a collective sigh of relief in Westport.  I'm pretty sure that it came from all of the mothers who got their kids off to their first day of school! Of course we'll miss those lazy summer days with our cherubs but let's be honest, having a few hours of silence will be nice won't it? Be honest! It's nice to get a break! How are you going to spend your first day?
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Soccer Mom

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For me and many other city girls there are two uber symbols of suburbia: the minivan and the soccer mom. When I moved here three years ago, my husband rented a minivan for my trip from the city to our new house in Westport. I cried so hard and my reaction was so violent, that he promptly cancelled the reservation and got me an SUV instead. The minivan has never come up again.  ( I know, I know it's the most practical vehicle for families, it's my personal mental limit) Fast forward three years...I am a soccer mom. How did this happen to a city girl you ask? How did this happen to me I ask? Well future suburban moms beware, it happens in a flash! Here's how it happened to me. Your kid is born into a Spanish family that lives and breathes soccer. In fact, his first uniform is given to him at birth. He innocently plays soccer in the park with his dad. He takes the cute pre-school soccer classes in Central Park. He gets into Kindergarten and joins the local
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Make it stop!

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Tropical storm Irene has brought an early start for fall clean up.....which means it's the start of hours and hours of my most hated noise in suburbia the #@#$ leaf blower! You know the folks out here love their lawns to look as though they lived in TV land so it's a sin to have one leaf lying on your lawn or around your flowers. You know it's all about convenience out here so it's a minority of us who actually rake and put the leaves in a bag....and then while we work we have to listen to the incessant buzz of leaf blowers. Of course because the majority of people use them it means that when one stops another one begins and before you know it you've spent your entire weekend "in the country" listening to leaf blowers! My neighbor's leaf blower started at 8:30 this morning and it's hasn't stopped since! (not an exactly efficient tool) I wish I could make it stop. But I can't so I'll just close the windows :(
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