ChiKat

Like most Chicagoans, I've been thinking about potholes lately. None of us are in danger of hydroplaning, because there simply isn't enough smooth surface area. The roads are riddled with axel-snapping potholes that are practically deep enough to reach Earth's mantle.

I understand that potholes form when water gets into the pavement, and then expands when it freezes. That weakens the pavement, causing cracks that eventually break into potholes.

What I don't understand is this: where does all the asphalt GO? Once there was a road, now there is a pothole strewn obstacle course, but I don't see any loose gravel. It has to be elves. Little asphalt-eating elves must come out at night and consume all the loose gravel. Clearly, there has been a population explosion of these elves. That is the only thing that can explain these inexplicably gravel-free potholes.

My long-term career goal is to write for non-profits focused on improving inner-city life.

Currently, I'm writing about recycling rates for plastic resins and designing templates for project planning. Which is to say, I'm not doing anything to improve inner-city life (unless you count the pretty flowers that I plant in the summertime).

But despite being far from non-profits, I've been pleased with my freelancing lately. I try to cram everything I need to accomplish in the day (shower, write, dishes, feed dog, world peace) into his naptime. Some days, having to race to get everything done totally drains me. But other days, like today, I'm totally satisfied when I am able to accomplish non-baby tasks and it re-charges my desire to stay at home with my son.

The day-to-day caring for a child can be totally overwhelming. My son is 10-months-old. He eats baby food now, but I have to spoon feed him. If I give him the spoon, he will eventually learn how to eat by himself, which is a good thing because I don't want to be spoon feeding a teenager. But letting him have the spoon means food gets everywhere. Not just on the boy, but on the dog, me, the floor and sometimes the ceiling. And it's mushy peas. The DOG doesn't even like it.

So some days, I am tired and don't feel like cheering my son on while he hurls food around the room in an attempt to feed himself. But other days, when I've completed a project and a client tells me I did a good job, I'm totally able to be the cheerleader and enjoy these monumental developmental milestones that are so amazing in retrospect, but so excruciatingly frustrating when you are in the trenches.

I feel like my neighborhood has been more violent lately. There used to be a lot of muggings, but now all the muggings seem to be at gunpoint. I don't know if this is statistically true, or just my perception.

My response to this has been to prune my purse of anything valuable. My credit card and drivers license are still in my purse, but just one credit card and I have the "cancel the card" customer service number one speed dial. If I do get mugged, I want to be able to hand over my purse without a second thought.

I read an article in the Tribune about a man whose car was stolen:

Holmes grabbed onto the luggage rack and got onto the roof as the van entered the expressway and headed north, according to officials. A witness told police he apparently tried to get into the van through the passenger door. He was then thrown off the van when the carjacker ran him into the barrier at 89th Street.

That is hardcore. And that's the second fatal carjacking I've read about in Chicago in the last month. The first one was a horrible story about a poor woman who was strapping her child into the car seat, only to have some man yank her away from the car and steal the car WITH the baby in the car seat. He eventually fatally shot the baby.

The point of this post is that ugly things are happening in the city. I'm not a fan of Obama, but then he says things like this that make me think that maybe he DOES get it:

"There is a tradition of gun ownership in this country that can be respected that is not mutually exclusive with making sure that we are shutting down gun traffic that is killing kids on our streets. The argument I have with the [National Rifle Association] is not whether people have the right to bear arms. The problem is they believe any constraint or regulation whatsoever is something that they have to beat back. And I don't think that's how most lawful firearms owners think."

[Hayes, Stephen F., "Obama and the Power of Words." WSJ 2/27/08]

With all my complaining about Chicago public schools, I thought I should mention some of the greatest things about being a parent in this city.

First, our park district has 26 indoor pools in the city, and tons of swimming classes. I'm signing my son up for an intro to swimming classes for toddlers. It's eight weeks and it costs only $15. My girl friend who lives in the suburbs paid $85 for a six-week swimming class, so the $15 is a total bargain.

The Chicago public library lets you sign out a family membership to any of the Chicago museums. We used to choose one museum each year and buy a membership, but that's really expensive. Then I found the library program, and we've been museum-hopping ever since. You can sign out the membership for a week. Last week we checked out the butterfly garden at the Nature Museum (my son tried to eat the butterflies). This week is the Children's Museum.

I have six amazing playgrounds within walking distance to our condo. I'm not sure if that is specific to our neighborhood, or if that is city-wide, but I am so happy with the number of playgrounds to which we have access. Now if only the weather would cooperate.

My mother-in-law is pretty determined to move out of the city once the school year is over. On a selfish note, this means I lose my Friday night babysitter, which will really hurt my dates with my husband. But it's even more depressing because the biggest reason she is leaving is the Chicago public schools.

My mother-in-law has two adopted children with special needs. She has moved them to several different public schools trying to find the right programs for the boys. In some of the schools, the teachers don't have the right training. That problem is a hassle, but it can be fixed because CPS allows you to transfer your children to a different public school if you can show that your child isn't getting the right training. Because there are so many different types of special needs, it isn't unreasonable for a parent to request a specific school because the special ed teacher's training at that school.

However, the boys share recesses, study halls and lunch hours with the mainstream kids, and that has unearthed an amazing number of problems for my mother-in-law. The last straw for her was the yearbook picture. In it, several mainstream kids are flashing gang signs. My mother-in-law is not a naive woman. She has worked with disadvantaged kids for 15+ years, so I believe her when she says that the kids are flashing gang signs. The school, however, said the photographer just happened to catch the kids while the kids were moving their hands. Not a gang sign! Just movement!

Whatever. My mother-in-law is frustrated that the school is being so naive. The principal clings to the notion that they live in a decent neighborhood and their kids wouldn't do that. My mother-in-law feels differently, and doesn't like the idea of her highly-impressionable, desperate-to-make-friends, special-ed son sharing limited supervised playtime with kids flashing gang signs. The boys are TWELVE. The next few years are such at-risk years. I can understand her concern.

So she's looking at moving out to the suburbs. My husband and I are back to trying to figure out if it's possible to live in the city when you don't live in the nicest neighborhood and you can't afford private schooling.