| |
Magic
and math are all the same to Jack. The boy can add big numbers and the
boy can make a fantastic magic potion, mixing food coloring. We learn
about the color wheel this way.
Of course this magic potion grants whatever powers the consumer wants.
According to Jack, most things are based on individual choice.
He wants to try his potion. He wants to wake up with super powers so I
let him stick his tongue to the spoon full of green-brown water, but not
before I make him promise not to be disappointed if the magic doesn't
work. We're not professional magicians, I remind him, and this is our
first try at spells. Jack says he can feel it working in his stomach.
He's as afraid of it as he is excited.
I fill his head with fairies and elves. I tell him that someday we'll
catch a dragon, just as soon as we can figure out where to get a dragon
horn and hollow it out for the spell. We plan our trip to the thick, green
terrain of a nameless Eastern European country. We’ll sink our feet
into the moss on full mountains of uncharted flora and fauna and dragon
lairs.
I tell Jack there's no reason he can't be a pro football player and a
scientist.
Olivia is older and already senses there is a path laid out for her. We
compare notes on knitting and reading. I try to think of ways to show
her, and not preach about, all the choices she has._I am liberal in my
make-believe because I am terrified how stifled they are in so many other
corners of their days.
For example: I let Jack wear his nice loafers with his sweat pants and
sweatshirt because he claims they are warmer and it will get us out of
the house quicker if I don't argue. Jack’s mother looks him up and
down and says, astonished, "That looks ridiculous." She goes
on about how people are going to stare and no one wears loafers with sweatpants
and he is just asking for people to look at him and comment when he chooses
this combination.
A moment later she realizes what she has said, laughs uncomfortably, and
pats him on the knee with a "just kidding."
Jack says, "Yeah, when I first thought to put these on, I figured,
who looks at people's feet? I guess I was wrong." I whisper to him,
"It's ok," and move his hair from his eyes. We are off to get
a haircut.
The place we go is a toy store and kid's hair salon in one. The first
thing the kids do is pick out a DVD they want to watch on their own private
TV situated beside the mirror at each station.They are exposed only to
other white nuclear families, so much like their own but often with bigger
apartments. The wealth gaps are staggeringly noticeable to these kids
within their own fiscal circle. Jack holds my hand tightly whenever we
pass "brown people" as he has referred to African-Americans.
Aside from magic and mismatched clothing, I hint at other pressing issues.
The doorman asks me where to find an article I had mentioned to him the
other day about global warming. Jack and Olivia hear this in passing and
ask me what he was talking about. I inquire if they've ever heard of global
warming. They say yes, but want to know more. I tell them about icebergs
and what that could mean for oceans and floods. We talk about Katrina
and the poverty in New Orleans and how it was 75 degrees in a New York
January and how all of this concerns them.
In one of our dragon books, Darwin is mentioned. I ask if they've heard
of Charles Darwin and evolution. Olivia says she’s heard we came
from monkeys.
We talk about Picasso's blue period. I ask them to write their dreams
down and tell them about artists and inspiration. I read Jack and Olivia
"Calvin and Hobbes," which I love that they love. But as it’s
“Calvin and Hobbes” I end up having to explain what reincarnation
means, what fate and predestination are and the debate surrounding this,
and how the mind works in a daydream. My favorite strips are the ones
with Susie. We listen to abridged versions of "A Midsummer Night's
Dream" and Greek myths on CD. They have the attention spans of accountants
and the imaginations of inventors.
I daydream about other jobs, other places. But the other day the kids
asked if I was going to leave them like all their other babysitters. I
said, oh dear, of course not. And since our time together is indefinite,
perhaps next we will tackle existentialism and personal responsibility.
[B]
CARMIEL BANASKY
|
Honey Tree
by Lauren Albert
|
