Anyone? Anyone?

I had myself a Ferris Bueller moment last Thursday. Not, alas, because I took the day off school and drove around San Francisco in a 1961 Ferrari, but because I turned into Ben Stein's Econ teacher. Not my proudest moment, but it was like being on a runaway train...I knew there was a painful end to it all, but there was nothing I could do.

I'm sure most of you remember the movie and the part where Ben Stein's character is trying to engage his students and ends up giving them all the answers, punctuated with "Anyone? Anyone? The Smoot-Hawley Act". And so on. I was attempting to get a chart completed that had to do with US land acquisitions in the 19th century, and they had DONE a map of the same the day before. So, yes, I found myself saying things like "And so the U.S. bought...anyone? The Louisiana Territory. In...anyone? 18...anyone? 03". And so on.

It didn't really dawn on me what had happened until I saw the pictures from our most recent Seattle trip, during which time we watched Ferris Bueller, and it hit me. I had become...an adult. And a damn boring one, at that. The truth is a bludgeon of pain. Alack.

On a cheerier note, we found a babysitter for tonight. Huzzah.

Tables Turned

When I was in junior high and high school, I managed to keep myself in subway tokens and Chicken McNuggets by babysitting, usually every weekend and frequent weeknights. Being the lame dork that I was, I naturally didn't date, and most of my friends were babysitting too. We'd call each other up after the kids were in bed, and, well, talk about what lame dorks we were. It was all right, though, because a) I made money and b) other people have new and exciting foodstuffs, books, catalogues and magazines.

Well, now I'm a parent, and the shoe is on the other foot. Our mostly-regular babysitter is great, and usually available, although not this weekend. And we'd like to hit a friend's party tomorrow night. And we have no babysitter. And I've called four other people. And I'm starting to feel like a real parent. I don't guess I ever really thought about being on the opposite side of things when I was babysitting, but maybe unconciously I hoped karma would be good to me.

The good news is that we could bring Bean with us to the party if we really need to...but darn it, sometimes it's nice to be adults without being parents. Twenty-four hours and counting. Keep your fingers crossed.