Dirty Laundry Blog by Jennifer Hynes

How quickly time moves!

June 7th, 2015
Time moves so quickly, everybody talks about it. People chronicling their lives on Facebook reminds us how fast it really does move, or at least it seems to move. “They were just babies” I think when a friend talks about researching preschools for her now two year olds. I get a surge of anxiety, Jack and Fiona are only eight months younger than her babies. Preschool? It really puts things into perspective. Those little critters are growing at a rapid pace.

We went down to our little park last night, I’m beginning to grow quite fond of our little neighborhood park. Except the asphalt and lack of trees is definitely a negative, it’s HOT no matter when we go! I let Jack and Fiona out of the stroller and they RAN to the little play set. They can use the whole structure on their own. Jack even mastered the stairs which have scared the crap out of me up until yesterday. He’s always wanted to go down them but I thought he would just fall. He practiced several times holding the hand rail, walking on his feet like a big boy, tumbling off the bottom a few times. It looked like it hurt. Was he going to cry? Do I need to pick him up or ask him “Are you OK Jack?” No, he gets right back up and tries again. Very impressive. Fiona watches him and tries almost everything he does. The slides are hot, the slides are always hot! The big kid slide was in the shade so I took Jack down the big slide in my lap, it was super fun and kind of scary!

There was another little girl the same exact age as Jack and Fiona, Avery. She lives right down the street. Jack and Fiona get super excited when they see Avery. They started making their “We’re SO excited noises” and run towards Avery. Her mom was right there at ALL times, Avery kept making little whiny noises and clenching onto her mom. She was pushing a Lawnmower at one point and Fiona ran over and stepped in, Avery started to cry. Her mom picked her up, I did nothing. The next time it happened I did get Fiona to make sure Avery could use the lawnmower, her mom said it’s her favorite toy at the park.

Our new nanny Heather started work yesterday. She is amazing! Jack and Fiona really like her a lot. I think the transition will be quite smooth. Fiona was really happy, Heather is the perfect match because she really knows how to communicate with children. This is going to help so much, Fiona will get a lot more attention in regards to learning language now that I have this kind of help. Yea! Heather and I are going to learn sign language together too, which I think will be super fun.
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Little Tikes Half Dome and watch out for needles!

June 5th, 2015
Oh god, I have cramps. But I put together the Little Tikes Half Dome all by myself! Jack and Fiona have been little monkeys lately so I got them something they can get a good climb on! “It was so easy to put together even a housewife can do it” I say as I accomplish the task. They mastered the climb up and down faster than I anticipated, which kind of sucks because it won’t stay challenging for long. Another $140 bucks! I had a feeling we should have just gone for the real deal playset and let them grow into it but I got scared with the 3+ or the WARNING CHOKING HAZARD! I hope at least we get a good year out of the thing.

Yesterday we visited a new park, by the community center in San Rafael. It’s a beautiful park and has a cool little kiddie area. There is a large homeless population here. They sleep on the grass during the day. A lady behind us was taking pictures of herself and talking to someone on the phone at the same time, “I look fucken’ fat” she kept saying. “Oh here’s a good one.” I wondered who the pictures were for. Some type of down and out escort service? A boyfriend in jail? As we walked into the park we passed by some men. They had a radio playing Reggae and one guy dressed like a sculpture of colorful rags was playing a guitar. I looked at them in acknowledgement, was going to smile, but when I saw their faces I turned and looked away. I had this strange feeling that they weren’t too friendly to women. I don’t know why I got that feeling, I just did.

As the babies played in the little structures and in the wood chips I was scared they might find something, like a needle or drugs and put it in their mouth. I kept looking to make sure I didn’t see anything. I think I’m permanently damaged. I was on a backpacking trip at Coast Camp in Pt. Reyes, another one of my FAVORITE places. It was the night of the fullest moon I had ever seen. We decided to trip on the beach. We were running through the sand laughing and having fun when and I stepped down and my foot landed right next to a hypodermic needle. It was so disturbing, heightened by the state of our minds. Tony and I asked these questions to each other, “Was someone shooting up? Was it waste from a hospital?” Ever since then I’m hyper alert about people leaving drugs laying around and since Jack and Fiona put everything in their mouths it’s kind of scary. I don’t think I’ll be back to that park again.

The way the mind works! I think I’ll use today as a studio day. I haven’t gone to Yoga since Monday. I was planning on going today but I don’t really like going the first day of my cycle. I think my time would be better used painting and taking a hot bath!
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Oakland Museum Visit!

June 4th, 2015
I don’t remember my mom ever taking us to the museum, but it’s probably because we couldn’t afford it. I do remember my God Mother Alyce taking me to museums when I visited my grandparents in New York for the summers. I have to give Alyce credit for my love of Art and Museums. My mom inspired us to be creative, but I think she was more concerned with just surviving. Later in our lives my mom and I visited museums and galleries every weekend. We took painting classes together too. I do remember visiting the Art Museum in Balboa Park when I was in fifth grade. I won an award for a print I made of a horse. I was in a Young Artist show that was to travel somewhere, I can’t remember where. A lady bought my piece of art and was getting it when the show was done traveling. I was so proud. That was my last good year. After that everything went downhill for the rest of my school years. I wish someone would have encouraged me to focus on art. I guess in those days since we didn’t have money that just wasn’t going to happen.

Jack and Fiona visited their first Art Museum yesterday, the Oakland Museum of California. I wish I took notes so I could remember the specific works that really caught their attention. Danny and I let the babies do some walking with hand holding. Switching to carrying when they really wanted to get free from our grips! It was hectic and exhausting, but worth it. I didn’t feel the babies could really get a good sense of the museum experience locked up in their stroller. The OMOC is one of my favorite places to visit. The museum recently closed for a remodel and is now reopen again. It has a beautiful garden area for picnics, a great café, A Gallery of California Art, my favorite, with works by bay Area Figurative Artists, such as Joan Brown, Nathan Oliviera, David Park, and Manuel Neri. There’s a Gallery of California History, which I didn’t visit this time, but is really cool. It has a nice 1960’s exhibit.

The first Gallery we visited was The Gallery of California Natural Sciences. We examined the Sea Birds, stuffed Otters, butterflies and jars of leaves. There wasn’t a lot for jack and Fiona at their age, but they’ve re- done this section of the museum so it’s totally interactive. For adults and older children it could be loads of fun and learning time. The star of the day was the Art Gallery. Jack and Fiona beamed with excitement. Jack gasps when he sees Clayton baileys Ape Guardian, a robot sculpture whose eyes turn red and mouth opens every so often. We walk around going from a Barry Mc gee painting to a piece of ceramic sculpture. I tell the babies everything I know about the artist and the work of art. “That’s a Joan Brown painting, do you see her doggy? She loved her doggy like we love Billy.” The pointing and saying “That” becomes meaningful and tolerable. It’s a lot more fun when I don’t have to talk about the same things going up the stairwell at home over and over again!

I think the babies will teach me more about being interactive with art in a museum than I’ve ever been able to do on my own. They are truly looking at the art and asking questions. It transforms the space into a conversation. There is no longer the feeling I can hear a pin drop. I did miss the quiet stillness I used to relish in when I would visit the museum on my own, the inspiration to go home and paint right away. But it’s not about “Me” anymore it’s about “Us” now. So when we got home I pulled out the finger paints and let jack and Fiona create! I feel recharged now. Maybe inspiring creativity in others can be a sense of fulfillment for me? I love how Jack and Fiona get super excited about cool things like I do! It makes me excited. I wonder how much of these early experiences will stay with Jack and Fiona?
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