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.

When the Weekend Swings Japanese

For us, most weekends are a mix of Japanese and American culture. Almost all Saturdays, from here until the foreseeable end of time, are given over to Japanese School in San Francisco. For Mimi now, and for the other kids when their number is called, it's not a question of attending; it's a given. A few weekends ago we were greeted with carp flags.

After Japanese School, and perhaps tackling some Japanese homework, we tend to shift back to more western-focused pursuits. For Kuri, that means German cars.

And perhaps we'll go out for brunch on Sunday, and just happen to come across a space museum.

This past weekend, however, swung way to the Japanese side, though, at first, we weren't sure it would. Saturday began with Sumie taking Mimi down to SF for Japanese School. She was going to sit in on the class and then listen to a talk from the teacher afterwards. In the afternoon, we were planning to attend a memorial for some elderly friends of Sumie's family who had sadly passed away.

I had thought Sumie would be coming back after meeting with the teacher to help me corral the kids and get them ready for the service, but the meeting went long, which meant I was on my own. I would have to get the kids prepped and drive them down to the city. I dressed up Kuri as best I could...

...and then got Mariko set.

After that, it was time for me to get ready. Unfortunately, this is a bit challenging with a one year old and a three year old on the loose. Kuri's new fascination with photography, and the ease of operating an iPhone, led him to capturing just how stealthily Mariko can sneak over to play with the toilet water.

He also managed to capture the results when Papa finds that his little girl is, once again, trying to destroy the potty.

Despite the child chasing, I made it to SF in time to meet with Sumie and Mimi. We then drove down to Mountain View, hit up a few Japanese grocery stores, and then made it over to the memorial. It was held in a gorgeous Japanese Buddhist temple, but I saw very little of it as the one year old and the three year old weren't too enthralled with chanting and speeches.

We attended the reception afterwards and were able to talk with Kenji, Sumie's brother's good friend and the grandson of the couple we were celebrating. Sumie's sister and her daughter Nana also made it out and, despite multiple kids, we were able to get a picture (of sorts).

One big development was that Kenji's little girl, who is also three, seemed to have a little crush on Kuri. Like most boys, he wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

On Sunday, Mimi, Kuri, and I headed out for Cars and Coffee and then, upon our return, we thought we'd continue our Western Sunday with brunch. We planned a trip to a restaurant in Sebastopol and then to a funky bakery near Tomales Bay - Wild Flour Bread. I had no idea our Japanese adventures would continue.

The restaurant we went to, The Gravenstein Grill, was fantastic. Mimi and Kuri insisted on climbing the stone lions outside.

The weather was gorgeous, so we were able to eat outside on the patio. Mimi attempted to teach Mari how to do Junken (rock, paper, scissors).

Mari quickly gave up, however, and just focused on looking cute.

Kuri, however, became obsessed with the game. There was just one problem: he couldn't form the scissors with his hand. Poor guy. After some help from Papa, he finally got it. He was still excited about it a few days later. "Look Papa! Ni! ("two" in Japanese) he'll yell, holding up his right hand in a peace sign proudly.

At brunch, our waiter told us that there was a Japanese festival (a matsuri) happening just up the road in Santa Rosa. We were pretty shocked. When we first moved to Marin, Sumie in particular was very worried that there wouldn't be much of a Japanese presence. And while there's definitely a dearth of Asian stores and Japanese restaurants up here, we've found that there's a rather vibrant Japanese community up here north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The matsuri was small, but had some great performances by local Japanese dance and drum troupes. Mimi and Kuri both got shaved ice. 

And Mimi, here in the middle of the pic in the sun her father had to hide from, recognized a boy from her Japanese class. 

After the matsuri, we hit the bakery, drove down past Tomales Bay, and returned home for a little rest and relaxation. Mimi and Kuri decided to organize Kuri's cars. 

And I, after getting the kids ready for bed, finally had a chance to look in the mirror to review the damage of the day. Perhaps it's hard to see from this pic, but there was a massive snot stain across my shirt. Of course, I had no idea how long it had been there. Ah, life with kids.

Looking back over this past weekend, I'm still amazed at just how many opportunities my kids, who are all Japanese as well as American citizens, have to take part in Japanese culture. We do make a bit of a sacrifice to live here, but when the kids can experience both of their cultures so readily, it's well worth it!