Tough Times to be a Kid

Sorry, Fiona.

Your best friend is moving away tomorrow. It's happening for the reasons these things always happen. Her father got a job offer somewhere else. This isn't something you have any control over. It's not something your friend has any control over. You two just get stuck with the consequences.

There are things we tell you to help with the hurt. You'll keep in touch. There's email, there's Skype. Your friend wants you to visit on vacations.

As an adult, I know these things won't happen. There will be a few emails and calls. We won't visit. There's really no reason we'd be in her new area of the country, and we aren't going to make a special trip.

The fact is, friendships at your age are based so much on proximity. The biggest reason you play together is that you live on the same block and are roughly the same age. Once you stop seeing each other every day, you'll grow apart. And, just like with all the other awful parts about being a kid in this situation, whether you want things to be different or not: you don't get any say. It is what it is.

If you were 8-10 years older things might be different -- or they might not -- but at your age you're going to move on more quickly than you can imagine.

But not right away. Right away, this is going to hurt. It hurts for me. I never imagined the two of you still being friends in 8-10 years, but I assumed you'd just grow apart over the years. I didn't expect two weeks notice in mid-January. Some of the hurt is selfish. It's very easy as a parent when there's a girl the same age as yours right across the street. Built-in playdates several times a week. But it also hurts because I remember times that friendships suddenly ended.

It's not enough, but: Sorry, Fiona.

Fiona in NYC

So we made it up to New York after two-and-a-half days with dog and child in tow. The past three days have been traipsing up and down Manhattan enjoying the sights we've missed for two years.

What we've seen this week:

• Liberty Island
• FAO Schwartz
  
• Natural History Museum (All kinds of taxidermied mammals, Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest, Early Man, Meterorites)
• Central Park (cousin Simon and cute little dogs)
• Metropolitan Museum of Art (Egyptian Art & Greek and Roman)
• Tea at Alice's Tea Cup

All in all a busy and great week! Tomorrow morning, we head up to the Berkshires!

Long Time No Video

Not much posting any more since we're beyond the point of writing posts about the first time she uses the pluperfect or something, but here are some videos from the past several months, newest first.

Kindergarten graduation took place earlier this week; here the kids are getting their diplomas.

Before that, they did a poem as a group. Fiona's line got stepped on a bit, but you can still hear her loud and clear.

Kind of long, but Fiona telling a story she learned at a girl scout outing, along with her own props.

This last one is really delinquent, since it's from the holiday assembly at school, but just in case you thought Fiona's ability to project her voice was super recent...

Winter Dance Recital

Fiona in a number from the Grinch at her winter dance recital. Too bad I couldn't get close enough for facial expressions -- she's a natural ham (surprise surprise).

Training Video

Guess what Fiona learned how to do this week?

Mind the Gap

Guess who just lost her first tooth.

First Day of Kindergarten

She's grown past the point of having scheduled naps at school, the curriculum is starting to look more recognizable to a grownup (books about numbers instead of learning to share), she's even had her first homework assignment (write a sentence about what she did this summer). All aboard for the next step.