Written on September 20, 2005 9:29 AM
It’s hard to work out sometimes whether toddler’s help or hinder your social life. In some ways, they are a great ice-breaker. People tend to swarm around them, cooing at their cute smiles, and regaling stories of toddlers they have known and loved. On the other hand, toddlers can grab all the limelight… in ways that are definitely not so desirable.
Take the other night and the first meeting of my Chicklit and Cheese Book Group…
Brad, Benny and I are now living in one of NYU’s dorms . We are, what they fancily call, “Faculty Fellows-in-Residence.” Basically, we get to live in a cool apartment in the dorm for free as long as we agree to enrich the cultural and academic lives of the students around us! It’s all been pretty fun and easy so far – running book groups, taking the kids to the theater, having little soirees and movie nights at our apartment.
And Benny, well, Benny has proved to be an ideal colleague. The students seem to love his presence and he provides an ideal distraction when there are any awkward lulls in the conversation. Not only that Benny is loving it. Whooping it up in front of amused students with his toy stroller in the corridors. Getting lots of new playmates in the apartment to help him build blocks and “vrrrmmm” his cars.
But back to the Chicklit and Cheese Group…As expected the group was made up of entirely female students. All of which were delighted to see Benny when they got into the apartment and spent the first ten minutes high-fiving with him, shaking his hand and blowing him kisses. Of course, this was all very good for breaking the ice and getting ourselves acquainted.
However, when I wanted to get down to the serious ‘work’ of the book group, things weren’t so pretty. First off, I put the cheese and crackers snacks on a low table. Big mistake. As soon as we started talking about our favorite chicklit classics (mine, I have to say, is still Bridget Jones), Benny maniacally ruffled all the crackers sending half the plate to the floor. Of course, this caused giggles amongst the group which made Benny want to do it all the more.
After removing said crackers, I gave Benny a piece of cheese to try and settle him down. Beginning a long meditation about the way women’s popular fiction has been maligned in academia and by reviewers in the NY Times, I suddenly looked up to find no one was listening. All eyes were on Benny. I looked down and saw, in a moment of horror, he was regurgitating his cheese and was about to spit up on our “too-nice-to-have-in-a-house-with-a-toddler” Persian rug. The only thing I could think to do was to stick out my hand and catch the spittle-covered orange cheesy mess.
The reading group found it hilarious. After wiping off my hand, I resigned myself to the fact reading groups might not be the most ideal locale for a two year old.
