Preschool Lost
Last week Elaine mentioned to us, off the cuff, that Barbara, the preschool teacher, was having an open house; so Walt and I decided to go at the last minute after work. Elaine also said that she heard through the preschool grapevine that a student was leaving so she might have an open spot for the fall -- this made us all the more eager to attend the open house.
Walt picked me up from the train station (with Devon) and we rushed over to Barbara's (Walt had a friend who was coming to dinner in addition to the spur-of-the-moment open house visit). The place was packed with over-eager parents, and it turned out that there was only one other child there (everyone else had obviously planned this ahead of time and ponied up for babysitting). Walt and I took turns watching Devon and trying to get a word in edgewise with Barbara, but the whole thing was really rather awful. All of the parents were trying to cozy up with Barbara, which made the entire scene very uncomfortable. Then to add insult to injury, Devon proceeded to pee all over her floor -- and not just a little bit but a veritable river. Barbara's floor was canted, so as this happened, this rush of pee flowed into the group of parents; Walt and I ended up on our hands and knees with paper towels mopping up the mess. We quickly exited after this, since there was clearly no hope of salvaging the situation.
The next morning I called Barbara to apologize for the pee and reiterate that we were still interested in getting a place in her preschool. The woman who had originally recommended Barbara, mentioned that she "liked children but didn't like adults," and this was proven out by my conversation with her. As soon as I finished my apology and mentioned that we still wanted a place, she proceeded to snap, "Well, I've decided that I want an older child and I already have a couple in mind. And you can tell Elaine to mind her own preschool business."
It was really the last straw for me. We're now looking at a multitude of other options, since while I think that Barbara's is probably great for kids, I just don't know if I want to deal with her for a year or more. Bah.
My dad was in town this weekend for his birthday, and we (uncharacteristically) went out to dinner for it. Walt made reservations at Aziza, a Moroccan resaurant several blocks from us. We decided to walk to the restaurant, since it was one of the few warm evenings in San Francisco -- and luckily we took some pastels and puzzles for Devon. We decided on the tasting menu, which was 5 courses; and I have to say that Devon was really great, all things considered. She was pretty fussy by the end of the dinner, but considering that we arrived at 6:30 and left at 9, I'd say it was a stellar performance on her part -- it made Walt and I realize that we should go out to dinner more often (at least at places that charge more than $5.95 per entree). Aziza was also a total hit with my dad, who had a delicious rabbit entree along with all of the other tasty courses that we all shared. Yum. 
We had purchased a birthday cake at Schubert's, so we went back home for cake -- although we had eaten so much food (and the menu included dessert) that we ended up keeping it in the fridge for breakfast. Devon was devastated, since her favorite part of a birthday is the cake, but when we unveiled it in the morning, she was more than thrilled. She also took my dad his present, saying, "Papa Neil, your birthday present. I'll open it for you." The last was a statement, not a question. Between eating cake for breakfast and unwrapping presents, life just couldn't get any better.
We went downtown later in the day to see the Gay Parade, but honestly, it was a real bore. My dad snapped a few photos, but even he didn't have the will to stay more than about 20 minutes. You'd think it would be a really fun, lively event; but by the time we got there, it could have been a parade of accountants or Shriners -- groups of people stomping by with banners every few minutes. Devon and I had to hightail it to Union Square after just a few minutes so neither of us would go insane.
Walt picked me up from the train station (with Devon) and we rushed over to Barbara's (Walt had a friend who was coming to dinner in addition to the spur-of-the-moment open house visit). The place was packed with over-eager parents, and it turned out that there was only one other child there (everyone else had obviously planned this ahead of time and ponied up for babysitting). Walt and I took turns watching Devon and trying to get a word in edgewise with Barbara, but the whole thing was really rather awful. All of the parents were trying to cozy up with Barbara, which made the entire scene very uncomfortable. Then to add insult to injury, Devon proceeded to pee all over her floor -- and not just a little bit but a veritable river. Barbara's floor was canted, so as this happened, this rush of pee flowed into the group of parents; Walt and I ended up on our hands and knees with paper towels mopping up the mess. We quickly exited after this, since there was clearly no hope of salvaging the situation.
The next morning I called Barbara to apologize for the pee and reiterate that we were still interested in getting a place in her preschool. The woman who had originally recommended Barbara, mentioned that she "liked children but didn't like adults," and this was proven out by my conversation with her. As soon as I finished my apology and mentioned that we still wanted a place, she proceeded to snap, "Well, I've decided that I want an older child and I already have a couple in mind. And you can tell Elaine to mind her own preschool business."
It was really the last straw for me. We're now looking at a multitude of other options, since while I think that Barbara's is probably great for kids, I just don't know if I want to deal with her for a year or more. Bah.
My dad was in town this weekend for his birthday, and we (uncharacteristically) went out to dinner for it. Walt made reservations at Aziza, a Moroccan resaurant several blocks from us. We decided to walk to the restaurant, since it was one of the few warm evenings in San Francisco -- and luckily we took some pastels and puzzles for Devon. We decided on the tasting menu, which was 5 courses; and I have to say that Devon was really great, all things considered. She was pretty fussy by the end of the dinner, but considering that we arrived at 6:30 and left at 9, I'd say it was a stellar performance on her part -- it made Walt and I realize that we should go out to dinner more often (at least at places that charge more than $5.95 per entree). Aziza was also a total hit with my dad, who had a delicious rabbit entree along with all of the other tasty courses that we all shared. Yum. 
We had purchased a birthday cake at Schubert's, so we went back home for cake -- although we had eaten so much food (and the menu included dessert) that we ended up keeping it in the fridge for breakfast. Devon was devastated, since her favorite part of a birthday is the cake, but when we unveiled it in the morning, she was more than thrilled. She also took my dad his present, saying, "Papa Neil, your birthday present. I'll open it for you." The last was a statement, not a question. Between eating cake for breakfast and unwrapping presents, life just couldn't get any better.
We went downtown later in the day to see the Gay Parade, but honestly, it was a real bore. My dad snapped a few photos, but even he didn't have the will to stay more than about 20 minutes. You'd think it would be a really fun, lively event; but by the time we got there, it could have been a parade of accountants or Shriners -- groups of people stomping by with banners every few minutes. Devon and I had to hightail it to Union Square after just a few minutes so neither of us would go insane.
posted by Devon Szalva at
9:58 PM
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