People people everywhere!!!

...shouted M happily and incredulously as we entered the busy playground at 84th St and Fifth Ave.

The sun was shining brilliantly.
It was one of the many wacky warm gorgeous November days we've had so far.
Kids were zipping about while parents, grandparents, and nannies chit chatted on the sidelines.
Cold weather jackets were piled up on benches.
Everyone was totally invigorated, soaking up vitamin D.

We railroaded into the Big Apple for the day.
Met up with our Brooklyn pals for some playground fun in Central Park and art history culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

M and his buddy S take a free "start with art" class for kids at the Met.
Trekking through the Greek and Roman galleries, the boys learned about carving sculptures from marble using a hammer and chisel. How to distinguish Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns.
Read a story about Romulus and Remus. Made a collage.
Enjoyable stuff for the kids.
Interesting for the adults.
After class, the boys really wanted to visit the magnificent Temple of Dendur. No problem.
Nothing more charming than seeing 4 year olds get super excited about checking out an ancient monument.

People people everywhere indeed!  Throughout every step of our journey. On the railroad, on the subway, on the crosstown bus, at the playground, in the museum, on the street.

M and I don't get this much face time with crowds of people anymore.
It just doesn't happen in the burbs.

It's cooler by the shore...

but still somewhat warm enough this past week to have playdates at the beach park.

We've had a three day run of gorgeous indian summer days - a welcome relief from the wintry cold spell of the past two weeks.

To maximize outside play time after school, we drive to the beach park these days. Even though it's a short distance from home.
Me walking & M biking means it's a 25 minute trek home.  Easily accomplished during daylight savings time.
Al fresco playdates during standard time pretty much ends at 4.45pm before darkness falls.

So begins the countdown til March 11, 2012 when we spring forward to daylight savings time.

Where to go to kill some time...

if it's too cold to sit outside?

I have sixty minutes of Me time while M is in a nature science class on Fridays.
On the warmer days, I would hang out on the lawn and bask in the sun to catch up on some reading.
Maybe squeeze in a few minutes of shut eye.

On a chilly windy October afternoon, sitting outside proved to be quite a challenge.
I thought I was dressed appropriately. Isn't October sweater weather after all???

No indoor waiting area for parents so instead of wasting twenty minutes driving to and from Starbucks...
I ended up sitting in my car. Reading. With the windows half way down of course.

Didn't think I would ever resort to hanging out in the car to pass the time away -

Cross it off my "Things I Can't Picture Myself Doing" list, which seems to be getting shorter and shorter.

Going a bit greener...

by leasing a smaller and more fuel efficient car.

Driving the Civic is actually quite fun - it's a zippy little vehicle.
Though I can't help but feel dwarfed by the mega rides out there.

It's the burbs after all ~ most everything is jumbo sized except the sidewalks.

Where is everybody...

on this gorgeous sunny day? The playground is practically empty!
I didn't get it together to make a playdate.
So once again, it's me and M.

Such is the way of the burbs it seems. Nearly deserted well equipped playgrounds.
Maybe a handful of people - this low number includes kids and parents/caregivers.

Even if we did have a jungle gym and swing set in our yard,
I would still need to get the f*&*k out of the house for a change of scenery.
M feels the same way. He's all for going to a playground for a few hours.
With or without pals.

Unlike me, he's not jonesing for same sized playmates...he's happy to do his own thing.
Ride his bike. Climb a jungle gym or two. Run around in circles.
Lucky me. A totally self-sufficient kid.

On days that I don't have some adult company, I've taken to doing New York magazine's crossword puzzle.
Easy to keep an eye on junior while thinking of the four letter word for "velvety greenery".

Speaking of greenery...
I figure we may as well enjoy this fall weather as much as possible.
Winter will come forth soon enough.
Then we will undoubtedly be the only ones out there in the very deserted playground.

Our commute to school...

is an eight minute walk.
Out the door, take a right and the school is three blocks away. A straight line down the street.
It doesn't come any easier.
I get to maximize the two and a half hours of ME time without having to deal with morning traffic or sitting in the "car line" at school.

The car line...truly astonishing when I first witnessed the routine last year...
(we had been in the burbs for about 5 days when nursery school started).

Rewind to September 2010...

Option A: The car line.
Drive to school. Get in the car line and wait til 9am when the doors open.
Stay in the car.
No one is allowed to leave their cars to socialize.
Teachers then come out to the car line to take kids into the school.
Driver stays in the car.
No assistance is necessary.
Then drive off.
Fantastic - there goes any hope of grownup interaction.

Same procedure with the pickup.

Get on the car line.  While waiting, catch up on phone calls, texts and emails.
Seems that the school's rule of "no one is to leave their cars to socialize"
extends to keeping the car windows rolled up.
I might get a wave - through the rolled up window.
At the appointed time, a teacher comes out with child.
Escorts the mini person into the correct car, identified by child's name on index card
in passenger window.
However, teachers are not allowed to buckle your kid into the carseat.
Kid is put into the car.
Drive down the block, pull over and strap junior into carseat. Then drive off.

Option B: Park car on a side street and stand in front of the school for dropoff and/or pickup.

No takers for Option B during the first week of school...oh man.
My grand vision of meeting other parents wasn't looking so rosy.

There we were.  M and I standing all by our lonesomes with a whole line of cars parked besides us. Windows rolled up, ensconced in their individual autosphere.
Wait! What happened to my scenario of getting friendly with a few moms and going for coffee somewhere to kill some time - like I did in the old 'hood.
Here it seems like everyone is either rushing to a 9.30 spin class or running errands
or going home so the younger tot can nap before pickup time.
Fair enough.

Week two.
There was L, waiting out front with her son F, who was in the same class as M.
She opted for Option B since the car line drill wasn't working so well with her little guy.
As it turns out, she is a fellow big apple urbanite who moved to the hood a month before we did.
We quickly bonded over our new suburban "lifestyle", getting acclimated to driving again
after an eight year hiatus, and having very similar interests.
The coming months were looking promising again...I finally met someone.
Someone who has since become a very good friend.

Fast forward to February 2010...
By now, M and I have become a very familiar sight to the parents/caregivers who drive.
As we're trudging through rain or snow or both, we've been offered rides to school.
We always decline since the distance is so sinfully short.
Even better than a ride, we are offered a warm and dry refuge in someone's car if we get to school early - to which we quickly say "yes please and thank you".

Fast forward further to September 2011...
Though I am driving now, M and I will be sticking with Option B - even during inclement weather.
It's way more fun jumping into a pal's car for a quick dose of adult conversation to start the day.

Lights out...

for six whole days.  Irene's wrath hit our power lines hard.

We had to empty our fridge. Park our frozen goods and array of condiments at the J's icebox up the hill.
Hit Home Goods for some candles.  So powerfully scented that they made my eyes water...but it's all that was left.
Powered up the flashlights with fresh batteries.
B dusted off his headlamp and hand crank transistor radio/flashlight combo.

Our days...
B went to work.
J went to the library.
M and I ventured to wherever I could charge my cellphone...library, playground, poolside, even to Burger King one morning for a playdate.

Our evenings...
a few book lights clipped to the lamp stands for some ambient LED lighting.
M jumping up and down to power up his shake flashlight.
B cranked away on the transistor radio...whilst wearing the headlamp with the almighty glare.
Sat around with J and B for some quality conversation time, after M went to bed.
The three of us crowded around B's laptop watching The Coen Brothers True Grit.
With the help of a booklight, J read The Help on her "vintage" no backlight Nook.
I read Rob Lowe's memoir Stories I Only Tell My Friends in three nights.  Then onto Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw. 

On the bright side of things...we did have hot water and use of the stove, which are gas powered.

So we were able to toast some bread on a skillet for breakfast.
Stocked up on mini sized rice milks to have with cereal.
About three days of PB and Js for lunch. Alternating with some takeout; pizza, grilled cheeses, bagels...to keep it interesting.
Other than one night out for Japanese, we cooked most of our dinners...on the stove or the grill (it's the burbs after all).
Small simple meals.  Doing food shopping an hour before dinner, buying only the ingredients that we needed.

No fridge meant no leftovers.

All in all, not a total disaster for us.
More of an inconvenience...a step up from camping (like I would really know).