GUEST POST: Brodown Hoedown - March 2016

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Starting a new mid-week tradition...guest posts! (Interested in writing something? Come on down!) This morning I have the great honor of introducing our esteemed first guest: the truly incomparable DVC.

 

There is little confusion regarding who performs a lion-share of the parenting in our home: It’s the iPad just kidding it’s Meg.

Nevertheless there are days when I unburden her and actually spend time with Graham absent her guidance. A couple Saturdays ago was one of those days.

We rose with the sun, Graham and me. I had two stiff cups of coffee; Graham, consistent with his senior-citizen diet, had warm milk and prunes. Unless I’m dressed for work and require the [emasculating] pram, we travel Yoda/Luke style: Graham on my shoulders, clinging to my ears and yurtleing wisdoms in incomprehensible reverse-syntax, me heaving and trying to prevent him from prying off my sunglasses. 

There are plenty of swell early-morning places to bring a 16 month old, I opted for the Met:
(1) it’s nearby
(2) it has strangers for Graham to accost and
(3) it has a bunch of stairs for Graham to ascend/descend.

Our first stop was Hot & Crusty on 86th Street. I got a twice-toasted onion bagel with vegetable cc, Graham got a packet of apple sauce. Naturally his was 3x the price of mine because the container said “baby” on it. After that it was straight to the museum.

The exterior was a hive of activity. Security guards in golf carts casing the exterior; joggers taking advantage of the wide, empty sidewalks; janitors preparing the stairs for hordes of tourists keen to take a selfie with Wheat Field with Cypresses before spending the remainder of the day engorged with dairy-free ice cream and nature-free hot dogs.

Graham and I exploited the empty steps and took a bunch of pictures. It’s fun watching him absorb the city coming to life, New York buzzing like a sleepy trayful of bees. He looked on in shocked amazement as two feuding street vendors jockeyed for prime sidewalk position.

After about an hour at the Met we wound up at the playground on 72nd and 5th; by that point G was done and ready for a nap.

He communicated this by standing behind the playground wall crying while I told him to run around and have fun.

It is clearly for the best that Meg is the default parent.