Muslims save the day!

By eating the leftover food I ordered for an event in my job at the University of Chicago.
Somehow I thought 80 people were going to show up for a scientific conference that really only 60 did. Then the caterer brought food for 100.
Oy!
First I was fending off the students that stopped by to snag a dinner.
As the second session of lectures got underway, I realized we were loaded trays and trays of leftover Mediterranean food I saw these dark men and ladies with head scarves going downstairs to a some kind of meeting or event.
There seemed to be about 50.
After that event ended (a lengthy lecture on the history of the Middle East) I (desperately) invited the Muslims to help polish this stuff off.
Thank goodness for them.
Two huge trays went to a soup kitchen too.
Oops!
OK, I don’t think I have any Muslim friends. There’s plenty of tension in this world between the East and West. So I thought, "Oh, this is an opportunity to build bridges." First I was thinking the biologist would share their information with the Muslims and visa versa. But the biologists had all taken off.
So I just observed the Muslims. They were cute and respectful, kind of flirty too. They threw in their Arabicisms (kind of like I throw in Yiddishisms).
“Are you going to graduate this year?” one friend asked another.
“Inshalla,” the student replied.

Blackstone Library news!

The Chicago Public Library has hired a new children's librarian for the Blackstone Library. Her name is Tina Carter. The Friends of the Blackstone Library warmly welcome her to the branch. We are excited to have her here. At the monthly Friends meeting Ms. Carter showed up in a King Tutenkhamun-style headgear to demonstrate some of the features of the library's summer reading program that is open to ALL children. The theme is ancient Egypt, with the Field Museum, the host of the upcoming Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit, as the program's partner. Kids who participate and then complete the reading program can win a really cool t-shirt. Please join us in welcoming Ms. Carter and if you know of anyone who can give one or two hours a week to volunteer and help out with this popular program throughout the summer, have them contact Ms. Carter at the Blackstone Library, 4904 South Lake Park Avenue, (312) 747-0511.

(that’s the letter I sent by e-mail to the Hyde Park Parent Support Network and local newspapers)
If I compare what’s going on at the Blackstone Branch to two years ago, it’s amazing – almost there – to the point I would like. Let’s see what Ms. Carter can do. I really like her presence. She’s calm and friendly. She even just changed the orientation of the desk at the entry of the children’s room so, as she put it, “you can see the children.”

Why bother traveling with kids?

My husband is going on a trip to two Midwestern locales this summer for conferences.
I thought I would come along to Madison Wisconsin and Ann Arbor Michigan
Don’t get me wrong these places are great.
I searched and searched on the web looking for stuff to do for kids in Madison.
There’s a great parks department offering swimming.
There are fantastic public libraries.
There’s a Children’s museum.
A zoo too.
But, then I thought, why shlep the kids all the way up there. I’d be on my own with two kids under 5. We can do all this stuff here in Chicago without the hours-long drive, expenses of staying in a hotel and the like that goes with travel.
I’ll take time off from my work, care for my kids and take them around to a lot of fun stuff here in Chicago.
Is that a defeatists attitude or what?
Well, maybe when they’re older, maybe.
OK, well maybe I could make this a kind of challenge or adventure!
We’ll see…

My Day Without an Immigrant

There are amazing photos from the 400,000 May 1, 2006 mega-march in Chicago and from the others around the country.
Where do I stand?
I am still conflicted on “we must follow the rules vs. fix those miserable countries the discontented come from vs. let those tenacious undocumented work legally, etc.” stance.
To help me decide, do I dig out “my great-grandparents were immigrants/my husband is a legal immigrant?”
Are the undocumented really taking jobs from those who deserve them?
Don’t ask me. I just know the immigration system is faulty. An example would be my own husband, an upstanding Mexican-Jewish academic who waited in limbo for two years for his permanent residency/green card and because of a snag couldn’t attend his own brother’s wedding in Mexico because of the criminalization of immigrants.
I stayed up late to watch the news Channel 2 CBS, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Univision, Telemundo.
There was amazing coverage from New York, Chicago, Trenton, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Portland as well as from rural states and areas! There was
euphoria on the faces of the marchers. Indignation from those opposing.
I was, however, disappointed that my newest, latest obsession, the Scottish Craig Ferguson, the host of the Late, Late Show said nothing about it on his monologue.
I was this close to bringing my two little boys to the march – but the rain….
Instead, I took a Black friend, Latoya, the mother of my son's classmate, shopping at Unique Thrift shop (in a mostly Mexican neighborhood). Monday is half-price day. On the way to Unique we were discussing the march, the proposed legislation all this hullaballoo inspired and noting which stores were closed. Amazingly the thrift store was packed.
After, I promised my 4-year-old son Benjamin & 2-year-old son Judah a corn on a stick from the Mexican supermarket Pete’s Fresh Market. I think Greeks own it and all the workers are Mexican. The products are Mexican, fresh and cheap.
I had a few groceries I wanted to buy.
The sad shocker: Pete’s was CLOSED. Guys were playing football/soccer in the empty parking lot.
We had to go to Hyde Park Produce in our neighborhood. One neighborhood activist and landscaper Jack Spicer was there excitedly talking with the owner. All the employees there are Mexican. Jack had been to the march from 10 am to 4 pm.
“You should have been there Dina,” he said.
Hmmm…
“There’ll be more," said Jack.
Oh, by the way, my immigrant husband went to work.

Southside recreation

The Southside Parents group discussed the future of the Chicago Park District's Dyett indoor pool, at 513 East 51st Street, at a recent meeting.
It was first thought that it would close in May. That raised a lot of bells for me because the use of this pool was central in fending off cabin fever and pent up energy for my two pre-school age boys this winter. Many of our friends on the Southside joined us for fun afternoons learning to swim. I am grateful to the wonderful staff, Roland Hunter, Baruch Winters and all the watchful lifeguards there.
At times there were dozens of high school students exercising, learning CPR or playing while younger children were learning to swim. Other weeks, children celebrated their birthdays with friends.
I recently learned that the Dyett pool CLOSES FOR THE SUMMER in June.
Luckily, there is the outdoor, Olympic sized, zero-depth pool with waterslide at Washington Park opening Memorial Day weekend.
Whether Dyett will open in the fall is still a question.
There was talk at Dyett about Harris Park at 62nd & Drexel (a YWCA) being used as a park district facility with pool. It is listed on the website but there's nothing for preschoolers.
We are urging readers to contact the Park District about keeping open the Dyett pool and to increase available services in this region.
The Dyett pool situation is urgent, so please contact the main office of the Park District at 312-742-PLAY to lodge your complaint. We discussed creating a letter writing campaign to the Park District, area Alderman and others to protest the disparity in Park District services between the north and south sides of the city.
For those of you who doubt this, compare the available listings and costs of programming at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center and the South Shore Cultural Center.
It is up to the park users to support the programs that exist, to remind city officials when facilities need repair and to work with the city through Park Advisory Councils to ensure support for the programs and facilities.

Chicago Parades

One Sunday we had to choose between the following activities: the Walk With Israel, a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese or go to the Cinco de Mayo Mexican parade in Chicago.
This is going to prove our true allegiances here.
Do we support Israel? We’re Jewish after all. But it’s so goofy. But maybe Israel really needs our support. Maybe we should demonstrate this to our two little kids.
Should we go to a birthday party of our son’s school friend at an obnoxious restaurant?
Or should we go to a Mexican parade. My husband is Mexican. This would help our kids strengthen their Mexican connection, make them feel more united with Mexicans. It’s definitely more entertaining.
I am committed to going to parades in Chicago. It's great entertainment for the kids now that they stand semi-still. I’ve got to say, the Mexicans do it best.
I glanced at a Polish one. My critique: so-so.
The India Independence day parade was a mess. A bunch of guys in their civvies on a Dunkin’ Donuts float just didn’t cut it for me. It might have been appropriate, but the aesthetics were lame. Hey! What about some ethnic garb?!
The Mexican Independence Day parade in Chicago is incredible with legions of low riders, charros, motorcyclists, folkloric groups, politicians, freebies, and mariachis.
Hungry? Authentic Mexican restaurants line the route. The proximity of Mexican bakeries laden with hearty South of the Border donuts is a plus.
Let’s face it, parades are meant for kids – though adults love them too.
On my list this year: the South Side’s impressive Bud Billikin parade.
For more information check out the city’s website for dates and locations of parades:
http://egov.cityofchicago.org

Hyde Park for lonely kids

I care for my two boys, age two-and-a-half and four-and-a-half, in the afternoons here in Hyde Park. Recently. In a parenting listserv a mom new to Hyde Park asked me where to meet up with other children because her girls stay with her on the weekends and have no friends.
Here's what I told her is available for kids in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood this summer:
Washington Park Pool is completely free.
As for beaches, I like the one behind/next to the Planetarium, 57th street & 63rd street with friends. 63rd Street has a great fountain kids can play in. And on Sunday late afternoons, there's a very earthy & impressive drum circle. Behind the South Shore Cultural Center is a secluded (sometimes brackish) cove -- makes you feel like you're not in Chicago, although you can see it from a distance.
Bixler is the most popular park to hook up with other parents.
There is a wonderful Saturday youth ceramics class for kids 6 & up at the Hyde Park Art Center. You can enter mid-semester too.
Alternatively, joining the gardening at Kenwood Park, Behind the HP Neighborhood Club or at the Community Garden on the other side of the Midway around Dorchester, could be a great way to meet people.