M is for Munchkins and Mosaics

September 16, 2025

I am so lucky! I am in Brooklyn for a few days taking care of grandchildren Nolan and Maddie while their parents are out of town.

I don’t get to see them as often as I like but I am enthralled with all the changes that I notice each time we do get to be together. Last time I saw them was mid-June. And how they have grown since then!

Maddie is in Kindergarten. Each night she lays out her clothes for the following day, and goes through her bedtime routines on her own. Her clothes selections are delightful - vibrant prints, “unconventional” matching of clothing items - and man, she is so happy when she dresses the way she wants to!

Last night we read a few chapters from a series of graphic novels called Dog-Man (graphic meaning kind of like comics). She asked me if I had ever heard of Dog-Man. When I said that I hadn’t, she very kindly said - then we will start with book 1, chapter 1.

Well, the first chapter described how Dog Man came to be - it was long and quite complicated but basically involved taking the head of a dying police dog who was very smart and sewing it onto the strong body of a “cop” who was strong in body but was losing his head for some reason (!?!) and was not very smart! So weird and so funny.

Nolan is in 5th grade, his last year in the Maurice Sendak Public School. There is only one 5th grade class - with about 25 kids. He has been with these same children throughout his primary school years. He has also become quite independent. He has braces on his teeth and is diligent in teeth-brushing and mouth-rinsing with no prompting. He lays out his clothes as well, and sets his own alarm.

Nolan and I played rummi-kub before bedtime (he won), and then he just wanted to talk instead of reading. Why didn’t we let his dad, Michael, go to camp, like he is doing? (Not exactly accurate but whatever…) What will middle school be like? How old was I and how old is Larry? (Both kids made comments about us being “old” or “elderly” but in a very kind and non-judgmental way… though Maddie did wonder who would die first…)

It has been delightful!

Today while they were in school, I got to wander around their neighborhood. They are in the process of buying a house close to where they currently live in a pretty small-ish condo, so I got to see the outside of it - it will be a BIG change! Stairs! A basement where they can play as loudly as they want! A back yard - not enormous but as Nolan said, big enough for relaxing and maybe playing corn-hole!

I love Brooklyn, and New York in general. Don’t know if I would want to live here - it is busier than I am used to but oh my all the different people who live and work here. I can’t even count the different languages that I hear as I walk around. And the restaurants - Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Mexica, Italian, Indian, Turkish - many many of each type, owned and staffed by the people from the specific countries.

And the churches and synagogues and other places of worship. And libraries, bookstores, dance studios, art galleries, parks. So much and so so much variety - a beautiful mosaic of humanity and culture.

I will be flying home Sunday. Saturday I am going into Manhattan to see what is happening at the Draw The Line/Make Billionaires Pay march (see the first comment for a link to the event). This event is sponsored by dozens of different organizations/groups of people who are concerned about the direction our country is going in - it will focus on the climate crisis, immigration and migrant safety, income inequality, injustice and violence, among other issues.

I am remembering the 2014 People’s Climate March that I attended in NYC. At the last minute, I decided to walk outside the marching area, starting near the end point and walking toward the crowd so that I could see and document with photos all of the different groups of people who were concerned about the climate crisis. I will participate in the same way this time - so stay tuned for photos!

I am curious/a little edgy about how this event will go, given the increase in military/police presence in many places - particularly since the route passes Trump Tower and Trump International Hotel among other institutions/corporations. In 2014, the police presence was very benign and supportive, making sure the route was protected from car traffic and that the crowd wasn’t getting out of hand. It was a very peaceful march with lots of singing and drumming, huge puppets and other artwork. The people - teachers, nurses and doctors, electricians, lots of union workers, Quakers and other religious groups, kids and grannies (well, lots of “old hippies”), miners and steelworkers, survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy who had been displaced and STILL were houseless.

It was a picture of how we might all work together to make life better for all.

A true mosaic of humanity.

Photo: From a recent family vacation with seal sightings, ice cream eating, and a LegoLand outing. Maddie is really into what I thought was the peace sign - as she says, the V sign!