Last week we took a family trip to Chicago and we had so much fun. Chicago is where I was living when Drew and I met, before I moved here to be with him, and I go back about twice a year, usually on my own for friends’ weekends. (Most of my pals do not have kids, so it’s easy to enjoy adults-only weekends when I’m visiting, which provides a nice break from my daily grind.) But this time I wanted to bring the whole family because Chicago is so beautiful in the summer and I knew the kids would love it and I want them to get to know my friends and vice-versa. We were there four nights and Drew was generous enough to stay with the kids two nights while I went out with pals, and one night we had friends over to our AirBnB, and one night we got a sitter and went to our friends’ party which was really fun and I passed out on a couch at 1:30 and still made it home in an Uber early in the morning before the kids woke up, where’s my medal for that? We played at Maggie Daley Park, hit the beach a couple times, and just enjoyed the slower pace of a more laid-back city by the lake. It was fun! Oh, and we met up with Addie Pray and her little boy and they say “hi!”
And now here we are on the first day of September, Jackson’s first day of 1st grade is less than a week away, I turn 41 next Friday, and I can’t believe the summer has slipped away as quickly as it has. It’s been a good one! We were lucky enough to get in three short trips — to Charleston, to Missouri, and to Chicago — and enjoy lots of time together and with friends and family. The last two summers were both very challenging, but this past year has been one of the best ones in recent memory. It’s bittersweet to see it end.
But Labor Day weekend is upon us, another summer comes to an end, Fall in New York is almost here. Who can complain about that?
I hope you all have a wonderful long holiday weekend. If you’re in a shopping mood, there are lots of sales going on, including a 40% off sale at Nordstrom where you could snag an Ugg Cozy Lounge Poncho (real name) to start getting your hygge on. Also:
Up to 60% off and free shipping at H&M. (This would be a good buy if you want to start planning your “Sexy Melania Visits Hurricane Houston” costume. (Just add tapered black pants and sky-high black stiletto heels and you’ll be all set).
40% off sale itms at Anthropologie. This dress! This bag!
Up to 50% off kids stuff at Old Navy. I ordered Joanie this and she literally went “Ooooh!!” when I showed her.
25% off everything (or up to 40% off on purchases of $250) ay ModCloth. Oooh!
And 15-30% off at West Elm, where I have coveted this for over a year (but still won’t but it because the console we already have is perfectly fine).
See you next Tuesday and I don’t mean that in a snarky way. 😉
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Layla September 3, 2017, 11:38 pm
How will you tell your kids about the way you treat Trump supporters?
Dear Wendy September 4, 2017, 6:11 am
What an odd place for an odd question! But since you asked, I can’t imagine it’s anything I’ll need to explain. I literally have almost nothing to do with Trump supporters. Is there something specific you’re thinking of?
Layla September 4, 2017, 10:26 pm
Yes. How can you preach acceptance when you don’t accept differing opinions?
Dear Wendy September 5, 2017, 6:08 am
That’s still not specific. But, ok, I’ll play: I do not accept “opinions” that promote hate and bigotry. I believe that many of Trump supporters possess those traits and that’s why they are drawn to Trump, who ran a campaign, and now a presidency, based on hate and bigotry. Just like I have contempt for those in Nazi Germany who supported Hitler, I feel contempt for those who support Trump now. People who “preach acceptance” aren’t talking about accepting those who want to deport children because they have brown skin, or kick people out of the military because they’re trans, or grab woman by the genitals because they think they can. Get a grip. “Acceptance” isn’t a blanket act to cover the deplorable. And if you are filled with bigotry and hate, you’re deplorable. I have absolutely zero problem explaining that to kids now and certainly won’t when they’re older.
I’m not interest in debating the merits of Trump, or even of his supporters. You called me out for my “treatment” of them. I still don’t know what you’re talking about as I’ve had close to zero interaction with Trump supporters. But if you’re referring to my opinion of them (which really is different than treatment, and seriously, if you’re going to be upset about what someone *thinks* of you, who’s the damn snowflake now?), then, yes, my opinion is pretty low.
Kate September 4, 2017, 6:53 am
I would *guess* that Wendy tells her kids it’s good to go to protests and hold signs saying they won’t stand for hate, racism, sexism, or fascism? She probably tells them that the president promotes these things and many people who support him do too. She also might tell them that anonymous Trump supporters who aren’t part of the regular DW community and hence look suspiciously like trolls, pop up from time to time making weird non-sequiturs on her site, and that when this happens she asks them what’s up and what their beliefs are and tries to start a dialogue, but at that point they almost always disappear because they’re off to troll somewhere else. Just a guess.
Kate September 4, 2017, 6:59 am
She might also tell them that, thankfully, people who actually still support this wailing man-baby are very much in the minority (1/3 or fewer of Americans, and sliding lower all the time), and that there’s literally nothing they can say to change the minds of these folks, logic and facts don’t work on them, so don’t bother, just keep standing up for what’s good and right.
Layla September 5, 2017, 12:33 am
Aren’t we supposed to be accepting and inclusive? Or is that only when we agree?
Skyblossom September 5, 2017, 7:41 am
We don’t need to be accepting of racism. We don’t need to be accepting of violence. We do need to allow people the freedom of speech. We in no way need to agree with their speech or find what they say to be acceptable.
Even neo-Nazis have the right to speech. What they don’t have the right to do but were caught doing during their Charlottesville march is to shoot at people who protest their ideas, pepper spray and mace people who protest their ideas and drive a car into people who protest their ideas. The people who disagreed also had the same right to free speech. What they didn’t have the right to do that they did anyway was to throw stones at the white supremacists.
They get to say that they want an all white nation but they don’t get to act on that belief. They don’t get to ethnically cleanse America. They may hate Hispanics but they can’t expel them. They may want to ship black Americans to Africa but they can’t and it is ironic that they want to remember with pride the white ancestors who brought the original Africans to this country in chains but now don’t want the descendants of those Africans to live here. Most African Americans have as many or more generations of ancestors who have lived in this country as do any white Americans.
There is no need or benefit to being inclusive of hate. Hate is destructive. When WWII finished Germany was in ruins because of Nazi hate. It was hard to find an intact building between Berlin and Moscow. The residents of Berlin and most other German cities were living in rubble. The nazis forced the world to react to their hate in an act of self-preservation. We were not naturally allied with the Russians but we all knew that we couldn’t live with the Nazis because it was their goal to destroy everyone else.
Why should we be accepting of that? I really can’t imagine what reason you could give for that kind of acceptance.
Dear Wendy September 5, 2017, 8:11 am
And for what it’s worth, I’m accepting of a lot that I don’t personally agree with. Like, pretty much all major religions. There’s a lot about Islam and Christianity, for example, that I take issue with, but I absolutely support people’s right to practice those religions and believe what they want to believe as long as it’s not harming others. It’s when people’s actions (including voting for a monster) harm people who differ from them, or when they want to use their personal belief system to limit the rights and protections of others, that I have utter contempt. I will never, ever accept that kind of bigotry, and anyone who suggests that it isn’t “inclusive” to stand against discrimination is a fool and I have no problem calling him or her that, in front of my kids or not. (I’ve had plenty of conversations with Jackson about fools; he is proud to have a mother who doesn’t suffer them).