Cotsen Players

I went to bed last night deep in the throes of mother guilt. I was sorry for having lost my temper in the car, but even more I was feeling sad about my relationship with Daniel. I suffer from these bouts every now and then, usually after some sort of altercation. The fact is, Stephen and Matthew are much closer to me than Daniel is. Maybe it is because I didn't get to stay home with him as I have with the twins. Then, of course, they came along when poor Daniel was only two, turning his world upside down. Since I was breastfeeding the twins exclusively, most of my energy went to caring for them, while the day-to-day care of Daniel devolved upon Tab. As a result Tab and Daniel have a wonderful relationship, one that I envy sometimes.

I felt a little queasy last night, which I attributed to my turbulent emotions. It turns out there was a physical cause, which probably also explains my malaise of yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night with intestinal distress: diarrhea and a very upset stomach. At least I managed to avoid throwing up.

This morning I had a slight fever, but it went down with Tylenol. Fortunately, I was feeling well enough to go with Tab and the boys to Princeton to see a play called "The Fairyland Detective Agency." It was a cute little trifle: Sam Spade meets the Brothers Grimm. Tab had offered to take pictures of the performance, and he thought the boys would enjoy it.

The play was staged in the Cotsen Children's Library. Tab has done alot of photography for Cotsen, but this was my first visit there. I had known that it was an important collection of four centuries of children's books on deposit at the university, but I had assumed that it was open only to scholars. Actually, although access to the collection is restricted, the gallery area is open to the general public. There are boxes of kids' books for reading and beanbag chairs strewn about the floor. There are also interactive exhibits based on Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, and the chronicles of Narnia. The boys were especially interested in the Narnia stuff since we are half way though The Silver Chair.

The actors were all university students; it must have been difficult for them to be up early on a Saturday morning. In fact, the young woman who played Tinkerbell had overslept and was late so the play started after 9:30 instead of at 9:15. The boys sat on mats on the floor along with the other kids to watch the play, and the parents sat on chairs in the back. It was not exactly great drama, but the kids seemed to like it and there was plenty of topical humor to amuse the parents.

After the play the actors mingled with the audience, shaking hands with the children. Matthew, who can be shy, surprised me by approaching Tinkerbell and telling her that he liked it when she called the detective a "meanie." Stephen, who always has an eye for the ladies, sidled up to the beautiful, exotic young woman who played Little Red Riding Hood. Stroking her satin cape, he smiled up at her. "I like red. It's my favorite color," he told her.

"Mine, too," she said, smiling back.

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