Let it snow

Snow, snow everywhere! And I love it, I simply love it! As SubHub points out that’s because I don’t drive. True, but still there’s something magical about waking up, looking out the window and finding the normally gray and dull Brooklyn winter landscape covered in a while blanket of snow. It makes me feel refreshed, it puts a smile on my face and a spring in my step, and it energizes me better than coffee. It’s so white and pure and clean and beautiful. Ahhhh. (Am I a closeted neat freak? Must shoo away this thought.)

I know that in all likelihood, by the time of my night commute the snow will turn into a brown disgusting mush, and SubHub will complain how hard it was to drive all day long, and the floor in the house will be much dirtier than usual (there again, did you see that? Another thought on neatness just crept up). But I am from the part of the world where snowless winter made just as much sense as a vegetarian steak, so I need a certain amount of this white stuff for mental health (or whatever is left of it) preservation.

So let me enjoy it now and bask in its beauty. Because soon this whiteness will pass and the magic will be gone. And you will be able to drive your cars without any hassle whatsoever (hahahaha, get it? Driving in NYC? Without a hassle? Real funny…ok, ok, maybe not so much. Obviously, the last two snowless winters took their toll on my mental health.)

Let's keep this between us, okay?

These are just kids being kids and I guess parents being parents.

DD asked my Mom for a drink. When Mom started pouring, DD said that she didn't want it in a cup, she wanted a bottle. Mom said, "But your father doesn't let you use the bottle any more." DD, without missing a bit, "But we won't tell him."

Last night SubHub and I were watching The Best of Nature - 25 Years. (Actually, we only went through the first 5 minutes or so and decided that the predators in action theme provides poor entertainment.) In the very beginning there was a scene where a light colored monkey was walking and jumping on the ground shot from the monkey's back. I couldn't shake the feeling that I have seen this before. In a few minutes it hit me: that monkey is a dead ringer for DS when he's wearing his beige PJs, which by coincidence he was wearing that same night! Apparently, mediocre great minds think alike because SubHub was thinking along the same lines! (too bad I couldn't find this tidbit on youtube)

With assistants like these...

I usually avoid Russian businesses if I can help it. That goes first and foremost for doctors who started practicing back "at home". It is not because I think that Russian doctors are inferior (sometimes they are) in their knowledge and skill. Mostly, it is because of their bedside manner and overall customer service. For a myriad of reasons, political, economical, social and cultural, the concept of customer satisfaction in USSR was pretty much nonexistent and customer service largely depended on the character and upbringing of the service provider. Once these people moved to the US, one would think that wanting their business to succeed would give them enough motivation to change their ways. For many business owners it is so, and for just as many it isn't.

Well, we made one exception in the "avoid Russians like a plague" rule when we chose a Russian pediatrician for our kids. We really like her, and she was highly recommended: she is a good doctor, kids like her, our views on antibiotics and vaccinations generally agree, and she is a very, very polite and nice. Obviously, her office is staffed with Russian receptionists because many of her patients' parents tend to be from Russia. I have heard complaints about them from my friends, but never experienced anything truly negative myself. Most of the time, they were nice to me and my kids. Well, until last week.

SubHub had to take DD for a check up, and the doctor had asked to check DD's vision. The assistant put DD in front of a table with letters, and asked her to name them. DD knows alphabet, but gets letters confused. In addition, for unknown to me reasons, yeshivas start teaching kids Hebrew alphabet ahead of English, so even though DD is absorbed in learning the alphabet, it is not English alphabet that she learns. The assistant administering this test remarked to my husband, "Shame on you. The girl is four years old and doesn't know the alphabet!"

What can I say, this assistant was lucky it wasn't me there with my daughter. While generally I try avoiding conflict, some things deserve an immediate response. The comment was definitely completely inappropriate and rude. Multiply that by the fact that a certain percentage of kids have developmental delays, and this receptionist could have offended a parent of a child incapable of recognizing letters for reasons other than parental laziness and neglect. (I am not even going to go into the whole topic of when children should start learning alphabet etc. or whether a 4-year old is developmentally disabled if she cannot memorize letters. )

I was and still am pretty irate about the whole thing and even thought of calling the doctor herself and complaining. But this receptionist has worked there for years, her manners, comments and all. I doubt anything would come out of my complaint. My only decision here is whether this incident requires changing doctors or not. I am thinking not yet, but it's strike one...

On blues and such

Wow, I can't believe I am that behind on posting. Oh well, life...

I believe the people have spoken on the issue of blue baby vs. blue man. And it hasn't cleared anything up. Although the poll showed 2 votes in favor of the blue man vs. 5 votes in favor of the creepy baby, I have received three comments in the original post favoring the blue man. So I added them to pro-man votes, thus making it a tie (that's if you don't count my vote, which is obviously in favor of the blue man, making him a clear winner). So after a long and painful process of soul searching that lasted about two and a half seconds, I have decided to satisfy everybody: I am leaving both pictures in.

So there, not only everyone should be happy, it seems that the blue man and the blue baby actually made friends and are now sharing their exasperation over my endless confessing (which is not even true because I haven't posted in a while).

So stop rolling your eyes, ok, SubHub blue man?