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........SAM AT WORK...........

My Fridays with Sam have become increasingly sacrosanct. As time slips by, and the day for his departure to Croatia looms, I am mad crazy for these few hours we have together. So when learned I was going to have to be at BOTH my jobs that day- in each case to oversee a particular project- I was rather dismayed. Sonja was wonderful, as usual, and came up with the obvious solution: bring Sam.

So it was Bring-Grandson-to-Work day. If you think showing Sam off on this silly blog is fun, showing him off in person is a thousand times greater. Besides, my co-workers are all sick of me talking about Sam all the time, and me forcing them to look at his pictures, and me moaning around the place about his upcoming departure, and they hadn’t seen him in months, so I figured the least I could do was let them see him.

First stop was Goddard Riverside Head Start where I provide occasional consulting services. Goddard serves the recent-immigrant Mexican community on the upper west side, and we arrived early in the morning before, unfortunately, any of the kids were there. But Sam made himself at home both in the office and in the classroom. I was there to participate in a meeting of parents and community health providers. The latter were making presentations to the parents, and at one lovely point, Sam strode up to one of the presenters, carrying a newly-discovered book, and calmly ordered him to read.

Which the presenter did. No one can resist that little boy.

From there it was off to Grand Street Settlement on the lower east side of NYC. One of the earliest of the great Settlement houses created at the turn of the century to help new immigrants, primarily from Eastern Europe, settle in to their new country. Today, the immigrants are primarily from Asia and Latin America (40% of New Yorkers living in the city today were not born in this country), but the Settlement houses still pursue their mission. Part of that mission is early education opportunities for children: Early Head Start, Head Start, Day Care, Universal Pre-Kindergarten. When Sam and I arrived he ran for “the train”, the large multi-kid stroller/carriages, and climbed aboard, demanding that Jessica, our invaluable administrative assistant, push him through the hallways. And he managed to start taking it apart, and using the roof as an umbrella.
What Sam really wanted to do, however, was play with the other kids (“biggg kids” he says). At times he was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, and would withdraw into my office to sit and quietly read a book to himself. I was very impressed with his ability to self-regulate, and minimize overstimulation. But soon it was back out into the hallways and classrooms with his new friends.

A good Friday. As memorable as it should be.





p.s. As Sam would say: “Check THIS out”: Sam with The Flying Glove. The dark glasses not only look cool, but they protect him from the feared Glove. A principal bad guy in the Yellow Submarine saga, the Glove runs with the Blue Meanie crowd to ravage Pepperland. Only Music can stop it, and Sam now knows all the words to the song. (watching him developmentally master his fears is an amazing thing)

p.p.s And check THIS out: once again, Sam is laughing. What is it this time? It’s a one minute film, that Sam watched more than a dozen times, laughing at the climax each time, as though it were brand new. To see it, go here, then find the ‘button’ that says “Puppet Stuff”, click on it, look at the top of the ‘tv guide’ page and click on “Homestar vs Little Girl 2”. And enjoy.