Jennifer Garner went out for a stroll with her two girls in New York the other day. I wish I could say that I ran into her. I also wish that Cool Baby would stop waking Cool Newbie up from his naps. But seeing this article on Jennifer made me wonder if I’m still cool now that I have two kids. Let’s see –
1. THE LOOK
JG can wear an LBD that short because she has a nanny to help her out. If you’re by yourself and you’re always bending over to help the kids, you’ll earn a bad reputation on the playground. That’s why I often opt for the black nursing tanktop and maternity jorts. [-5 cool points] At least I was cool enough to wear a similar LBD on a date night when I was 9 mos pregnant.
2. THE STROLLER
JG’s three-wheeled stroller, Bob, could easily be friends with my Phil & Ted. [+2 cool points]
3. ENTOURAGE
JG’s entourage includes Victor Garber, an award-winning television, movie, and theater actor that played her father in Alias. Perhaps because some guy named Ben Affleck couldn’t make it that day. My entourage includes, um…Cool Dad? [-3 cool points]
NET CHANGE: -6 COOL POINTS
I’ll point out that Jennifer Garner has a little more experience because her kids are older. My only excuse is that I’ve only been a mom of two for six weeks, so sometimes I sacrifice cool points for the sake of just getting by.
***UPDATE 7/25: I went to church today with my infant and toddler, without Cool Dad or any kind of entourage, and wore a different little black dress! I did it! A couple of close calls with Cool Baby about to lift my dress. Other than that, I was okay!
We always come back to this, if for nothing else to make the name of our blog make sense. Let’s look at the weekend and see how our coolness is hanging in there.
FRIDAY
Watched our Netflix Movie of the Week, Up. Seeing a movie within 5 years of its release is worth something for us [+2 cool points]. Being fairly new to Netflix, we’re still catching up on popular culture. Cool Mum liked Julie and Julia, so for our next movie, I ordered what I hope will be a light-hearted family comedy in the same vein, focusing on the art of American baking, American Pie. Do you think we’ll like it?
Our post about the merits of living in a studio was featured today at the NYC blog MommyPoppins.com! This brightened our day after a sleep-deprived night. MP is one of my favorite sites about what to do with kids when you’re in the city and other types of cool-parent content.
[+5 cool points]
The irony is thick today because of the most recent post–Cool Dad’s 5am confession that he is going crazy at times thanks to the stress of living in NYC. It didn’t help that Cool Baby was still recovering from that trip to Florida. Thanks for listening to all of our ups and downs!
I feel like I’m walking on air today, despite the fact that it’s a Monday. The weekend was a fine one.
FRIDAY
Well, I honestly don’t remember what happened Friday night. It must’ve been quite a wild, loud time that has caused me to have no memory of the occurrence three days later. Or I fell asleep around 9:30, which is more likely [-5 cool points].
SATURDAY
In the morning, CM and the boy went to a gathering of mums from our church [+15 cool points]. This was a cool thing for two reasons:
1. The gathering was at one mum’s apartment in Harlem. Before you blast me for being an unprotective husband and father, Harlem (especially this area) is quite safe, especially during the day. CM and CB were in no more danger there on a Saturday morning than say… downtown Medford, Oregon.
What makes this so cool is that CM can now say, “Yeah, I went to Harlem for a playdate.”
In Florida, the coolest place she could have claimed was Chick Fil-A, which by all means, is a VERY cool place, but it doesn’t have its own globe-trotting basketball team (yet).
2. Secondly, it was cool because of the mum hosting it. Both she and her husband work in fashion, which automatically makes them, their apartment, and any events held therein cool.
I know that working in fashion makes them cool because of my experience watching ‘Ugly Betty’. The moral of the show is that working in fashion makes you cool (as long as you match your clothes and your first name isn’t “Ugly”).
Also, on Saturday, CM had a date to watch the new Jennifer Johannson and Demi Barrymoore movie. The movie was sold out, so it didn’t happen, but it was still cool that CM had plans with our accountant and actor friends [+5 cool points].
SUNDAY
It was a warm, gorgeous day in New York. We were in the 50s, so I proudly strolled in just a Florida Gators t-shirt [+3 cool points]. We had pizza, time at the park, and went to the first meeting of the Upper East Side “branch” of our church.
Weekend net cool points: +18. A fine weekend indeed.
