Normal by Magdalena Newman

Author:Magdalena Newman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HMH Books

16. The New Me

In Connecticut I came as close to building a dream life as was possible. Every mom knows that sending a kid off to kindergarten buys some measure of freedom. I had that, but supersized, given my new lease on life. Jacob and I walked Nathaniel to school every day. On the way back I’d stop at the Russian supermarket for Polish cold cuts. When we got home, I gave Jacob a snack, then it was naptime. Afterward, he might have a playdate.

The kids and I started a garden, planting strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and peppers. Jacob was more into this than Nathaniel. He loved to cook and clean and do household chores, whereas Nathaniel preferred to live in an imaginary world. I bought them cute watering cans, gardening gloves, and rakes. Nathaniel would pull the rake three times and call it a day. Jacob would water the tomato plants and check for tomatoes, then come in and say, “Mom, let’s make something with these peppers.”

We’d make a stew and at dinner I’d say, “Jacob grew these,” and he’d beam with pride. If my second son was subconsciously looking for his own special connection with me, this was where he found it.

I bought myself a chainsaw and got rid of seven stumps in our yard. (Daughter of a farmer; it’s in my blood.) Figuring the best way for the neighborhood kids to accept Nathaniel was to make our house the “fun” house, Russel and I salvaged an old rickety wooden swing-set. He power-washed and resurfaced it. I spread old sheets on the ground and laid out paint, brushes, sponges, and other tools for painting on them. Smocked in Russel’s old shirts, the neighborhood kids went to town decorating the swing set, even painting the slide. After they left, I would repaint it brown, so they could do it all over again. I set out sprinklers for them to run under, and I took the boys and their little friends to the beach, which was only forty minutes away. We gathered seashells and stopped for ice cream in the afternoon. When we got home, I’d drill holes in the shells, then we’d have kids over for a shell-painting party, stringing them into wind chimes.

In walking distance from our house was beautiful Elizabeth Park, where we spent a good chunk of the weekends in spring and summer. We had picnics among the blooming tulips and roses, and listened to outdoor concerts.

Most everyone in West Hartford recognized our family because of Nathaniel. The first Christmas in that house, we didn’t have much money, but we spent more than we could afford on a child’s jeep. Very often we would walk to town, Nathaniel driving his jeep and Jacob in the stroller, to get ice cream, go to the movies, or stop by the library. Sometimes we would have Nathaniel’s favorite mac ’n’ cheese at a restaurant called the Elbow Room, where we would sit on the rooftop overlooking the Main Street of our cute New England town.

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