Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Gilligan's Island, Day Six

10 pm, Monday Nigh, Text Message:  "Parents, there will be Gan tomorrow in Jerusalem, starting at ten am.  Please be sure to escort your children all the way to the building, as there will be a large area of play ground covered in ice and snow."

6 am, Tuesday morning, Mommy:  "Oh Raphaela, you have school today, Hooray!"
Raphaela:  "Oh Mommy, I am feeling soooo sick (convincing crying), I really think it is better for me to stay home and play with you, just to be safe."

9:45 am, Tuesday morning, Text Message:  "So very sorry, the Ministry of Education along with the teachers have decided that the school grounds are still unsafe and therefore, Gan is canceled for today."

9:50 am, Tuesday morning, Email:  "Unless of course you parents are so desperate to get your kids back to school that you come to the play ground with shovels, put your back into it,  and clear a safe path.  Otherwise, closed."

10 am, Tuesday morning, Text Message:  "Hi, this is the English Afternoon Class.  Even if you don't have Gan in the morning, feel free to bring your kids to our regular session from 1:30-4:15."

12 noon, Tuesday, Email:  "Hello fellow parents, we have worked very hard and the teachers are on their way, come on back to Gan, today!"

Mommy:  "Raphaela, do you want to go to Gan and see everyone?"
Raphaela:  "No. I don't want to walk in the snow and ice."
Mommy:  "OK, then we will go to Tania's in the afternoon and you can see your friends at English Camp."
Raphaela:  "Hooray!"

13:00, TuesdayRaphaela and I set out on foot to her afternoon English program.  A walk that should take less than ten minutes takes us close to a half hour.

13:30, Tuesday:  I see one patient, the first time I have worked in close to a week since the snow started.  A middle aged and supposedly educated Israeli woman asks me if she should clean the ice and snow on her porch with water.  The younger former New Englander snorted, and wondered if Israel teaches the basic physics of ice-liquid water-steam.

14:15, Tuesday:  I visit my friend, stuck in bed with a virus, and we hang out  in her warm house until I must pick up Raphaela from nursery.

16:00, Tuesday:  Walking home from Gan, Raphaela tells me that one of her classmates, "N," made fun of her picture of a snow man.

 
I tell Raphaela that it does not matter what other people think about her creative efforts, and then I point out that she was in fact the only child in the whole group who gave the snow man ears ("Because he has to hear things, Mommy!") and a full facial expression.  I reassured Raphaela that I loved her no matter what, and that she must always listen to her true Inner Voice.  My daughter responded, "That's right, I drew the best snow man I could draw and my Mommy loves me.  N's Mommy doesn't love her as much as my Mommy loves me."
 
 
16:45, Tuesday:  A walk that usually takes ten minutes takes close to a half hour, as the sidewalk slowly begins to freeze over again for the evening.   And now the wait begins, as each parent sits by their radios and their face book status, waiting for notification for tomorrow, praying and hoping that there will be school, a full beautiful day of school.
 
19:30, Tuesday, SMS:  "School - G-d willing - will take place tomorrow, starting at ten am."
 
20:00, Tuesday, Raphaela:  "Mommy, if they tell us there is school tomorrow and then they cancel again, I will get very angry."


1 comment:

Rachel Selby said...

I'v heard rumours about another 10 o'clock start tomorrow... I've also lost a week's worth of income this month.