New York is just special

From top left hand corner: Jazz at Lincoln Center, Puss in Boot at Puppetworks, Central Park, ceiling decoration at McNally Jackson's bookstore's cafe, New Museum

Everybody agrees that New York is a special city, right? Whether you like the city or not, there is always something to do and that's true for any taste or age.

Nonetheless, a lot of people still find it hard to believe when I tell them that I would probably never find the kind of life that I have here, somewhere else. To which I usually hear back that New York will always be there and that I could come and visit often. True. But, what those people don't get, is that the things they can enjoy when they come to visit (even if they come often), I can have them everyday, all year long, without having to wait for a trip.  

Last weekend, for example, some of our activities included a puppet show* at Puppetworks in Brooklyn, a visit to the New Museum, a jazz concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center featuring Wynton Marsalis and his band, not to mention the restaurants and the simple strolls around town admiring the blossoming trees (although the weather wasn't great). And I'm not talking about a special weekend or anything, this is normal for us. Where else can you have all this, with the same variety, the same quality, at the tip of your fingers all the time? 

My weeks are also usually full of various activities. I get to talk and be with different people as well. This is something that I think is really hard to find somewhere else. Maybe in Paris or London or a place that I don't know (but would love to)? Certainly not where I have lived before. 

I'm organizing my week with the kids now. As always, there is too much to do and not enough time. New York is just special.

Have a great week!

* We went to see Puss in boots and I really recommend it. They are having their last presentation next Saturday, April 7th. If you can, don't miss it!

Marionnettes at the Swedish Cottage - Don't even bother...

This morning, P and I went to see Little Miss Muffet's Monster-Sitting Service, at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park, with a friend and her son. The day was beautiful, not too cold and the theatre is one of the most charming places in New York to take kids. Nonetheless, thankfully, our sons were too young to understand the story (the performance is actually recommended for ages 3 to 9). But the older children in the theatre, who were around 5 or 6 years-old were at some point bored (because the story is too complicated and some dialogues are too long) and then even frightened.

The scenarios are very well done, the musics are nice and the crew is really talented. However, the story is completely wrong. From beginning to end. 

Here's why:

1. A six year-old girl, Molly, arrives home ALONE and finds a message from her parents who have left for the weekend. There's no one at home. Her grand-father is suppose to arrive at some point (from Alaska) to take care of her. But, of course, he doesn't make it, so he sends his old friend a giant spider (that was actually amusing and the spider is one of the best characters). 
2. There are monsters in the story. If they were funny, that would be alright. But they are not. There is even a dinosaur growling very loud that was quite scary.
3. There is this malicious  and creepy german monkey that lives in outer space. He's actually Ham, the chimp that was sent to space back in the '50s (if you're interested, here is the footage explaining his mission) and he now wants some revenge by destroying the human race. The Cold War has been over for more than 20 years now, so why do we still need to stereotype the "bad guys" by being Germans?! This should be completely over by now.
4. The chimp sends a terrible plant that grows during the night into a gigantic and malefic plant and starts to destroy the city (New York). At this point, the curtains are down and we can only hear the sounds of the destruction and people terrified screaming on the top of their lungs and the lights behind the curtains are all red (imagine the reaction of the kids in the theatre). So, little Molly takes command of a huge robot, like a Transformer, and after a ferocious fight destroys the malevolent plant. 
5. Moral of the story: plants are evil, because they destroy the city; so we should exterminate them. Oh, and let's not forget History, Germans will always be bad. 

I might sound naive, but children are children. Childhood is already such a short period of our life, so why would we want to accelerate it and throw the children into adulthood too early? There are some jokes or some sarcasm that the kids just don't get and that are not appropriate for them. When I go with my children to see something (either a play, or a movie, or a concert) that is for their age, I expect to see content adapted to their age and that's it. Of course, I want to have fun as well. But usually just by looking at their happy faces I'm already spending a good time. And when I want to have fun as an adult, then I call a babysitter and go to the movies with my husband. What I'm trying to say here is that parents have to adapt to their children needs and amusement level and not the other way around. Like we say in French chaque chose en son temps.

We weren't already very convinced about the play last summer (The Secret History of the Swedish Cottage), but this one was a total disappointment. They have the technique, the talent and certainly the imagination. Why can't they just stick to more traditional or children appropriate stories?

Picture of the Swedish Cottage taken from here. And the pictures from the play were taken from Backstage and Time Out New York Kids - the reviews are pretty good, although they agree with me that this is not a great play for children.