Deep, Dark, Dirty Dish

It has come to my attention that certain rumors are circulating about me.

According to my opposition, I am raising children at home, and I sometimes bring them to meetings.

Actually, this is true.

In particular, I have an eleven-year-old daughter, Meg. On occasion, when my husband can't cover for me at home, she babysits for me. She has an instinctive gift for children.

But when circumstances permit, I bring her with me to meetings. She loves this. She is at that darling age when a girl wants to grow up to be just like her mother. Imprinting, I think it's called.

It's plain that my politics are rubbing off on Meg. I can tell by what she did tonight. When I came home from the Meet the Candidates event at the Senior Center, she had a written report waiting for me.

It was a full listing and tally of every off-color word her brothers had used during the evening.

"Just wait patiently," I said. "Some day your brothers will grow up."

"I don't think so, " she said. "Look at Jeff," she said. Then she went straight to record. "He's had fifteen years to grow up, and he hasn't done a single thing about it."

Then there's the baby, Michael. He'll be one year in December. I thought about posting his picture on my Web site, but then I realized it just wouldn't be fair to my opponents.

He, too, has a history of city meetings. Unfortunately, the last meeting I took him to was too much. When he heard the latest insult the city had prepared for Downtown, Inc., he began raging inconsolably.

Much as I admire his ability to say what he thinks, I realized then that the time had come to leave him home with his siblings. We'll keep him home until he's learned more appropriate ways to express disagreement.

I estimate that I have four children all together. It's hard to get an accurate headcount, because they don't stand still.

However, I'm fairly certain I can reproduce their position on having a candidate for a mother.

The thing they wish is that city politics would take their mother away from them more often. So far, we haven't let up on the piano lessons, the piano practice, or the homework after school, or on 4-H, family dinner, or bedtime reading.

Since I've been balancing my children's needs against a heavy load of city meetings for four years now, I've learned to do it gracefully.

My plan for my children, four years hence, is for them to enjoy a safe, clean, friendly neighborhood; and for them to have their choice of arts and recreation programs, symphony and choir concerts, library services, and parks; and for them to enjoy a vibrant community with a healthy economic future.

I figure what's good for my kids is good for us all.