It sounds so dramatic, saying that my husband is away for a week in Norway while the kids and I are at home puking our guts out. The reality is that Oslo is no further from Milan than Seattle is from Denver, and dear sweet Tobias is not only working all week but puking his guts out as well. I am merely lying on the bed, relaxing my ‘no TV for children’ rules in accordance with how many hours have gone by since I could last hold down a sip of water; Tobias is giving input on global strategy at a senior management conference.
It’s Wednesday now and coffee is starting to sound good. The sickness-related laundry is almost caught up, and if that ends up being 2015’s crowning achievement it could still be a pretty good year. Man, that was a lot of laundry.
I bring up the illness not to inspire pity (although it is welcome,) but to give you the background needed for today’s game. Let’s play…
Coincidence? You Make the Call
In the style of the 1980’s Time-Life Books series about paranormal events, review the list below and decide which elements, if they happened at exactly the same time, would imply causality rather than mere coincidence.
- We decided to send Frida to Catholic school
- We decided to send Frida to the school attended by Berlusconi’s children
- We all got really sick
Answer: we will never know for sure.
We were going to send Frida to a Montessori school in Milan, but the commute ended up taking 40-70 minutes each way. Not a good plan for an active three year old. Instead, we are going to go with the ‘best’* local school, a school whose entrance features an enormous picture of the school’s headmaster shaking hands/arms with the Pope. It would be off-putting except that the Pope is the new Pope and in the picture looks like someone’s kind grandfather while the school’s headmaster looks completely overwhelmed and is crying with joy. It’s wonderful.
*asking yourself what ‘best’ means? Me, too! I’m also asking everyone I meet. Answers range from ‘Berlusconi’s children went there!!!’ to ‘Berlusconi’s children went there… (shudder)’ I guess we’ve decided that ‘best’ means: within walking distance, excellent academic reputation, lots of outdoor space, and a weekly lunch menu that sounds positively delicious. No bonus points were given for being on a bro-hug basis with the Pope.