Today is Julia Child's 100th birthday and there is a pretty good piece in the Times that is making me want to cook all sorts of calorie-laden things.

Also today is the ice cream social/meet your teacher at the kids' new school, and I need advice. Apologies for the necessary backstory. Casper knows she will be attending this school, and is all set. She's attending the gifted academy, grades 3-6, which operated last year in a different space but at least has some history. She has homeroom teacher's name and a list of classmates. Dillo is enrolled for 1st grade in the other part of the school (in the same building), which is new. They started in May having hired a K teacher, and in June started also enrolling PreK and 1st grade students (they will ultimately expand to K-6 over 2-3 years). They have now hired a preK teacher. As of yesterday they had NOT hired a 1st grade teacher. The class list we received Monday has 5 kids enrolled in 1st grade; yesterday the office said they were continuing to enroll new kids and the number would be higher. They said they would NOT dis-enroll any 1st graders; they would either hire a 1st grade teacher, or have a joint K-1 class.

Note: school starts a week from today. Now, because of the precariousness of all this, we have not yet told Dillo, who tends to be a worrier, that we have enrolled him at this school. He thinks he is going back to our old school. I was planning to tell him tonight at the open house, when he could see his classroom and meet his teacher, and have a sense of the concrete reality of it. But they have not hired his teacher, so I cannot show him his classroom and a friendly smiling face.

What to do? We can 1) tell him tonight and introduce the K teacher (who is very nice) and elide the whole uncertainty thing; 2) keep pretending he is going to the old school and tell him either when the situation is settled or the day before school starts, whichever comes sooner; 3) say to hell with this insanity and switch him back to our old school. I'm pretty angry about this; I understand the scramble of getting a new school off the ground (the principal was only hired in July), but with one week to the first day of school I expected this to be worked out. I am tempted to call the principal and ask her what she expects me to tell my son tonight, you know? (So, what should I do?)

Scola, talk to strangers on the street.

::makes 'crazy' finger motion at head, points at msbelle::

We can 1) tell him tonight and introduce the K teacher (who is very nice) and elide the whole uncertainty thing

I think this one? I mean, will you put him in the school if it's a joint K-1 class? I assume you would much rather have them in the same building, and feel fine about the current K teacher.

Today's edition of My First World Problems, Let Me Show You Them: just realized I can't eat Coq au Vin anymore because it has mushrooms. Damn it.

Jesse, I guess you are right. I think we would stay for K-1, although he is at the high end of 1 - can read fluently and add and subtract, so way above the level of the average entering K. But he is socially slow and on the young end, so on that level K-1 would actually be a bonus. If I could be sure that the K teacher they have would be his teacher, I would feel better. Its the possibility of last-minute switcheroo that is stressful. (At our GA school they steadfastly refused to give classroom assignments until the afternoon before school started, which I can now see has some advantages.)

How hard is going to be to have them at two schools? If you really want him in with Casper, I would present it as a done deal, but make it as awesome-sounding as possible. As in, "Guess what? We found out you could go to Casper's school! Wouldn't that be great?"

Otherwise, I would wait and see what his reaction to the school is tonight. If he likes it and seems curious, then you can go that way, and otherwise keep in his old school?

ION the number of people who want my free analog tube 20 inch TV on Craigslist is pretty amazing. I mean, it works and is a good TV, but it's like 20 years old!

That CNN piece is awesome Jilli!

I can't eat Coq au Vin anymore because it has mushrooms. Damn it.

Well, you can make Coq au Vin without them. I love mushrooms, but I do think the necessary ingredients there are: bacon, chicken, red wine. Everything else can be swapped out or substituted. Can you do it with eggplant instead? I've found it a moderately successful substitution.

Of course, this doesn't resolve the problems of ordering it in a restaurant.

Are you allergic, or is this merely recommended? I don't think I've heard of mushroom allergies.

Oh, I should have warned you, shrift--I'm coming to Chicago the weekend of Sep 7. My SIL got us tickets for Springsteen--9th row at Wrigley Field. However it's also the 1st anniversary of the opening of my brother's restaurant, so I'm not sure whether I'll have time to see any Buffistas...

Well, you can make Coq au Vin without them.

It's being served for lunch, so I'm out of luck.

Are you allergic, or is this merely recommended? I don't think I've heard of mushroom allergies.

Apparently I'm a special 1% of the population snowflake? I have an anaphylactic reaction. I'm also allergic to pollen and mold, so I think it's related.

Oh, I should have warned you, shrift--I'm coming to Chicago the weekend of Sep 7.

I should be in town if you do end up with spare time.

flea, if I were in your shoes, I'd bring Dillo tonight to meet the K teacher and let him know that you were hoping to enroll him and have the two of them at the same school. If he throws a fit and/or you don't think the K teacher is set to handle a K/1 split, you can always switch him back to his old school.

If you get a chance, I'd talk to the K teacher about how she plans to meet the needs of the first graders in her room. I could see it working out nicely for them. They'd sort of naturally rise to leadership positions in the class.

WTF. She's getting fired from jobs for screwing around???? In HOLLYWOOD???

That's my reaction. It reminds me of the treatment of Ingrid Bergman after her affair with Rossellini except that this isn't the fucking 50s anymore.