In the Night Kitchen

(Remember this, Mama?)

This night reminds me of one of my favorite almost-forgotten books, Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. My mom bought it for me when I was five or six but it waited patiently in the top of her closet for years due to nude illustrations of the little boy. (The nudity bothers librarians, principals, teachers, mothers--not children.)

From what I can remember, Mickey floats out of bed and into a huge kitchen where he falls into some dough that bakers are making into bread. He has a grand adventure in which he fashions a plane out of dough and flies into the milk, and then he falls right back into bed as though nothing happened.

Working at night has always fascinated me. I get distracted so easily, and during the day when I have people calling me on the phone, Jordan telling me a story and a whiny baby chasing me around, it's hard to get anything done. At night there is no one to sidetrack me; I can turn my music on and zone out. Jordan fell asleep and I slipped out of bed. He and Suzi are cuddling in a deep sleep and I am taking a break from laundry and picking up toys. When I'm finished I'll slide back into bed and no one will have noticed I was missing. In the morning when they come downstairs it will look as though a winged fairy maid has picked up after us. I will drink a cup of yummy coffee we bought at Whole Foods and go to work.

I want to read this book to Suzi in a year or two. I hope we can find our old copy.