This'll Just Take a Minute

The boys and I recorded the second episode of our podcast this afternoon. We haven't released anything yet. I'm still thinking about how to approach this. We might need more practice sessions. Kenzo and Osamu are just starting to realize that we're recording a conversation. I think when they more fully grasp that they'll settle in. Or maybe just raw little kid conversation is good. Either way, a podcast is coming soon. This morning was the first soccer club of the year, and as usual the boys like to wear their uniforms all day. They even want to keep playing soccer all day.  When they do their nap I go walking. Today when they woke up they had their snack time with mama as I was getting back from a particularly intense walk through Koyodai, Dounji, and Tenjinzawa. I didn't even go inside the house. I went to the front window and knocked. The boys slid the glass door open and I said, "Let's help papa put the Christmas lights away in the shed and then let...

Kenzo wrote me a note this afternoon and hand-delivered it. He seems to be completely ignorant of the concept of making mistakes, at least with his developing interest in writing. I am so relieved. I love it. When he gave me the note I immediately read it and gave him some well-deserved praise and a high-five. The only part I couldn't figure out was the end of the second sentence. I panicked for a split second because I knew this could easily become a moment in his life that he might remember under hypnosis years from now and realize it's when he lost the confidence to read and write. That's probably just my neuroses running amok randomly, though. I started reading it to him so he knows that 1) I value his thoughtfulness and what he wrote and 2) what he wrote is understandable. He's learning. But even more important than that is he has confidence, and I want to build on that. He'll learn how to write correctly in time. As a grown-up interacting with a six-year-old I...

Today was my first day back at work for 2023. In my upstairs office. In my sweatpants, with a nice sweater and collared shirt in case of any unexpected Teams or Zoom calls. The snow has been super light so far this year, but on the mountains between Sendai and Yamagata it's starting to pile up. And it's cold. Even with my gloves on the ends of my fingers get numb on my morning walk. The bummer was that somewhere in the mid-morning I started having a panic attack and it ended up lasting all day. I thought at first maybe I shouldn't have made that second cup of coffee, but it wasn't caffeine. I did a walking lunch break and the entire time I could feel my heart beating way faster than normal, my gait was off, I was dizzy in a way that's different from just being spun around. Very disorientated. And my nose was running so I used my handkerchief to wipe my nose but every so often more than just drippy nose would come out and I thought a lot about what the world must hav...

The boys and I started a podcast this afternoon. More on that later. Today was my last day of new year holiday. Eri started back to school today, though, so the afternoon and evening was just us boys. Even though it's just instant and freezer stuff I think I made a pretty good feast for the boys. When I have time I like simmering a good spaghetti sauce, but it's not that often I can do that. Maybe this weekend. I have a hankering for nachos too. I made some pretty great nachos and tacos last year. Before lunchtime we all went down to the park and played soccer with the pink ball. Eri was particularly energetic. Kenzo made a "goal" under the monkey bars and we all tried shooting and blocking. Every time I act as goalkeeper and catch a shot I like drop kicking the ball to the other end of the park so the boys have to run after it. In spite of those efforts they only took a short nap after lunch. Even though they're little monkeys, these guys are my favorite people t...

Four hours and thirty-two minutes.  That's how long the boys and I were at the Aeon Mall super play area today. By the time we left the boys were completely exhausted. They still wanted to play, but somehow they also knew that they weren't gonna last much longer, so they willingly got their shoes and we headed back to the car. Kenzo got pretty grumpy on the way home. There was a lot of traffic heading back up the Route 4 to Izumi so it was a bit tedious, even for me. I had an oldies playlist going with Frankie Valli and the Beach Boys and that kept us all nicely calm and happy.  Non-stop play for four-and-a-half hours. With a little lunch squeezed in between. I ordered the boys' udon after I told them it was just about time to eat something and they wholeheartedly rejected the idea. When the noodles arrived I called them over, they gulped it all down, stole some of my french fries, and were back out in the zone like it was a Formula One pit stop.  During all this I manag...

The holiday food festival continued tonight with another amazing round of oden, plus Eri got some crazy delicious crab from Hokkaido and made a batch of yangnyeom chicken.  Plus there's homemade cheesecake in the fridge. And a jar of blueberry jam right next to it. I've been extending my afternoon walks during this holiday. I wanna eat everything and if I keep a good balance of moving my body I think I can make it back to work on the 5th without feeling like a blob. Auntie Grace came back from Taiwan a couple of days ago and wanted to babysit the boys, which of course Eri and I are always thankful for. Her babysitting is high-end. She doesn't just sit around in the living room. She indulges the boys. While mama and papa brunched Kenzo and Osamu made a pretty good snowman down at the park. Apparently Auntie Grace carried the snow shovel down there as well to ensure a goodly collection of snow without super wet, super cold gloves and hands. We were at our favorite cafe, Flat ...

I ate a lot of mochi this morning. With the boys' spoons and forks, from their bowls. Mostly Kenzo's. He was being picky again and decided being hungry all morning was better than eating anko and natto mochi. He ate and drank most of his zoni, probably because it was full of fish eggs and the mochi is softer due to being submerged in warm soup.  Osamu hemmed and hawed, but with my help he consumed all of his natto mochi and zoni. I finished his anko mochi. It was delicious. So I left the house feeling pretty full and energetic. Mochi has a way of sticking to your insides and making you not feel like eating anything for a while. It's like cream of wheat mixed with plaster of paris. And you eat it.  I had some talks with the boys, again, about eating their meals. It's not about liking food. It's about getting nutrients to grow big and remembering and respecting that mama worked very hard to make the meal. I'm not being difficult about it (yet), but I am softly pro...