The Summer Dad - Home with Kids Edition

For the past two weeks, I've been home with both Mimi and Kuri. Mari is still in daycare. We've had plenty of adventures, but it's also been challenging finding ways to fill the day, keep the house one step from filthy, limit screen time, provide food, and maintain sanity. Here's a brief look at what I've learned so far.
1. You Need a Cage
If you're home with two, and occasionally three when your spouse is on call, kids on your own, there are simply times when you need a safe space where they can play without destroying the house. A backyard usually fits the bill, but not so much for a 16 month old. The trampoline, however, works a treat. It took some training, both for Mari to get comfortable and for Mimi and Kuri to consistently tone down their antics when she's on with them, but we made it work. Now, when Sumie gets home, instead of TV being a distraction as I cook dinner, the trampoline provides 30 minutes of freedom that doesn't leave the house a complete disaster.

2. Parks are Escapes for Kids and Parents
While hauling three kids these ages to the park on my own takes some juggling, it's generally well worth it. I tend to bring a blanket to lay out for snacks on the lawn (and rest for myself). On the play structures you can get smiles like these!

Our local park has a wonderful creek. We pack sandals so the kids can soak their feet in the, at first, damned cold water. 

On our last outing Mari was not happy with putting her feet in, but she loved walking across the gravel shoals with her big brother and sister.

3. You Have to Set a Schedule 
During the school year we'd regularly done our home work, Japanese work, piano, etc. after school. We had a schedule. When school let out we had more time, but our schedule went out the window. The first week was a bit of a mess. I knew what we had to get through, but by the end of the day we always seemed to come up short. Starting this week, we decided to basically have "school and practice" time. From 9:30 or so we spend 1.5 to 2 hours working on language, projects, math, and music. Mimi has the most work to do, so Kuri usually tackles a new Lego project while I work with Mimi on her Japanese.

Once Japanese is done, both Mimi and Kuri move on to math.

And we wrap up with piano. Sometimes Kuri dances, but most often, he starts rummaging through the games he'll try to talk us into playing.

4. You'll Be Playing some Board and Card Games
To cut down screen time, one of the things we've started doing regularly is taking on board and card games. No pictures are available of these sessions as our games of Uno and Chutes and Ladders are far too lively to capture on film. Well, sadly, the truth there are no photos is that 90% of my time is spent consoling the loser so he or she doesn't cry and upbraiding the winner for gloating. Ah, the joys of competitive game play with a 7 year old and 3 year old.

5. It Helps to be Mr. Fix-it
The other day we went to Salvation Army and Mimi fell in love with an incredibly cheap, but very cute dog that barks and walks by remote control. She was so enchanted with it that she spent an hour making her little puppy an outfit. Later that day, Mimi proudly showed her baby sister the pampered pooch. Three minutes later, the dog and wired remote were separated, the wire ripped in half by the excitable baby. Mimi took the news well, but that was on the condition that I would do my best to fix it.

My initial plan was to simply splice the wires back together and be done. Sadly, there wasn't enough wire left, so I had to take apart the remote. A remote that, after two hours of soldering, countless attempts at reconstructing the switches, and a second degree burn, never went back together.

Again, Mimi took it well. Her Papa couldn't fix the dog. Well, I couldn't quite leave it at that. Taking a breath I began again by cannibalizing an old Lego set from when I was a kid. From this I repaired a broken electrical switch, then re-wired the connections in the original remote, and, with enough duct tape to suspend a Volvo underneath a bridge, created a new remote from the old one and the now fixed Lego switch. Yes, it looks horrifically tatty, but the dog works better than ever and, best of all, Mimi was happy.

 

6. I am the Food Bitch

When school and daycare were in session I was in charge of preparing the fast majority of the food our family consumed: breakfast for everyone, dinner for everyone, and lunch for Mimi. Things are pretty much the same with them home but for one major difference: snacks. I hate snacks. One hour after breakfast, "Papa, I'm hungry." 30 minutes after lunch, "Papa, I'm hungry." Immediately after any activity, "Papa, I'm hungry." In my dreams at 3:00am, "Papa, I'm hungry." And the response to my question, "Well, what would you like?" is always the same. "I don't know."

As such, I have become my children's food bitch. 10 times a day I must figure out how to get them filled up. And as soon as they get their hands on food, they immediately say, "Papa, I'm thirsty." This is one challenge I, as you have probably noticed, am still trying to work out.

 

7. Set Aside Time for a Special Outing 
Back yard play, board games, and visits to the park are fun, but a special trip, though it may be a production, is well worth the effort. These can be hard to fit in with Mimi's summer homework and the ongoing afternoon activities (swimming [for both], gymnastics, piano, etc.), but when we set aside a special day for an outing, it's like a little "break from our break" for all of us. This past Monday we hit up the Academy of Sciences.

Here we are at the top of the rain forest.

Here's Kuri being attacked by a vicious butterfly.

And here's the two of them riding a stylized cat.

We ended our outing with a visit to a decent ramen shop in SF. Mimi, as usual, tore through tako yaki...

...and Kuri danced in anticipation of his noodles. 

I have another few weeks with the kids home before camp kicks in. One of those will involve me juggling all three munchkins, on my own, for 3 days (thankfully no nights) in Manhattan. While I've learned a little about what it takes to entertain one's children through the summer months, I've a feeling my crash course in NYC will teach me a heck of a lot more. Thank God there will be the world's best hot dogs and cookies (Gray's Papaya and Levain Bakery) to fall back on should things fall apart.

Full Moon, Empty Aquarium

Life in San Francisco is often a bit grey - grey skies, grey sidewalks, grey parking regulations, and grey loitering laws.

The clouds tend to come in shortly after, if not before, the sun goes down, obscuring the stars and moon.  So last night, with its unmuddied sky and full moon, was a rare opportunity to dabble in a little night photography.

We don't have much of a view from our backyard - just more backyards and backs of homes.  But at night, with the sky lit by the moon and resident windows still twinkling with the last lights before bed, it can be rather pretty.

I should've gone over to the park, or at least to the top of our block, to take some more shots, but didn't.  I was lazy.  I did take Mimi for a long bike ride that day - she still hates her helmet and screams for up to 9 blocks to remind me - so maybe it's OK that I just came in and went to bed.

The following morning Mimi and I woke up early and took advantage of our close proximity to the Academy of Sciences.  We have a membership, so we can go anytime, and it's free!

Regular readers of this blog may remember our visit here with my Mom about a month back.  The day we went - the third Wednesday of the month - featured free admission (this was before I got my membership), so the museum was packed.  It made Shinjuku station in Tokyo seem tranquil by comparison.  What a joy it was to sneak down to the aquarium this morning and have it virtually to ourselves.  The photos below were taken in low light and with my phone (it was too early in the morning for me to remember my camera), so I apologize if they're a bit grainy/fuzzy. 

Walking to the elevators, Mimi was a bit unsure of the plexiglass beneath her feet.  Could she trust it?  The rays below her feet were a bit intimidating.

 Once in the aquarium Mimi ran for the huge floor-to-ceiling plexiglass wall.  I'm glad the walls were thick.  She loved banging on them.  She also tended to forget that the walls were there, which resulted in some significant head banging.  Ah, my daughter the metal-head.

By 10 a few school groups had arrived, which both delighted and distracted Mimi.  She joined multiple tours without asking, and often offered her unsolicited opinion of "Aaahhhh!, Bi-doh!" on the exhibits.

After about an hour Mimi was ready to go.  As we walked out into the sunshine we passed well over 100 kids lined up for a tour.  The museum had been gradually filling all morning and it had been getting harder for Mimi to toddle with impunity.  I think we'll make it a habit of going early in the morning.  That same strategy seems to work quite well here in SF.  The city is full of late risers.  More on the advantages this provides sometime in the future.

All told, it was a good day out.  We passed the playground, inadvertently, on our way home.  While were were still over 100 yards away, with but a blurry glimpse of half a slide in sight, Mimi began to go nuts. She saw the park, knew what she wanted, and made it known.  I had to "release" her from her stroller a good 30 yards before the sandpit.

If only she could get that excited about eating lunch or going to bed!