11.26.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:51 pm by Max
When changing the tots’ diapers these days, I often take them into the shower room and wash off their bottoms. That seems to me the only proper way to get them clean. Plus, Mickey has a sensitive bum (it’s always red and bleeds on occasion), and I don’t like to wipe it too much. Better to use the shower head.
Anyway, the other day I found that Mickey had pooed so I asked him to come with me to the shower. He put on a great show of reluctance, and when I tried to calm him by saying, “Happy bum! Clean bum! A clean bum is a happy bum!” he retorted “Happy bum iranai!” (“Iranai” means “I don’t want” in Japanese). Funny how kids just naturally mix languages.
It’s also funny how open their minds are to acquiring language. Mickey or Milo will often repeat a single word they heard from a line of a song (usually nouns such as moon, star, park, or zoo). They are not at all put off by the fact that they can’t understand the rest of the lyrics. They just happily repeat what they heard. Notice how different this is from my students, who will, conversely, sometimes get frustrated if they can’t understand the entire sentence they just heard.
Last night we came back from the annual fall festival at Utsunomiya University, one of the places where I work. There was a smorgasbord of cheap, mostly tasty food on offer. I stuffed my face.
Here are some things we tried:
– Thai Curry (great but could have used more chicken, says a carnivore like me)
– Anko (sweet red bean paste in a soft pastry shell, which is in the shape of a fish)
– Choco Banana (need I say more?)
– Tacos (I had one; it didn’t live up to the rep of a standard-issue taco, but it was edible)
– Yakisoba (fried noodles)
– Okonomiyaki (try a web search on this one)
– Cotton Candy
– French Fries
And some things we did not consume:
– Takoyaki
– Beef Stew
– Hot Dogs
And more…
The kids went to bed early last night because they hadn’t had a nap and they were beat. Lying in bed, Milo was crying and I tried to feed him his bottle of milk. He was screaming that he didn’t want me to feed him, but Mummy couldn’t feed him because she was busy with Mickey. So I left the room, but came back in a minute because Milo was calling, “Daddy, hold me!” I went back into the kids’ room and said to Milo, “So, are you ready for Daddy, now? Come here.” “Come here,” Milo softly parrotted back. I held him in my arms and gave him his bottle, and he fell asleep. See what I mean about the kids saying things they don’t mean? I can’t figure out what’s going on inside their heads.
Photos to follow.
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11.05.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:00 pm by Max
I was somewhat mean to my kids tonight. It was past 9:00 p.m. and I wanted them to go to bed, shouting at them to get back inside their bedroom and go to sleep. Not that they seemed to notice or be affected by my anger. They kept giggling and smiling the whole way through.
I think it’s around this age when you can say that children are no longer free of guile. Oftentimes, these days, they go around saying things that they don’t really mean.
I was playing with Milo earlier tonight, roughhousing and rolling around on the floor. When I grabbed him he would say things (in Japanese) like “Daddy’s dirty! Daddy’s smelly! Daddy’s scary! Mommy! I want to see Mommy! Stop, Daddy!”, after which I would put him down, only to hear him say right away, “Hold me, Daddy!”
Also, tonight I wanted to brush Mickey’s teeth, so I said, “Mickey, Daddy!” and he cried no-o-o, he wanted Mommy. Then I grabbed him and placed my arm near his mouth, allowing him to mock-bite it—just a basting of saliva, really—after which I struck up a pout on my face and pretended to be hurt. And then suddenly Mickey stopped struggling and hugged me, wanting me to brush his teeth. He cooperated and was happy while I cleaned his mouth.
Also, the kids (and Milo in particular) are often asking us for band-aids to apply to nonexistent injuries. We go along with the game, up to a point. More than two band-aids per kid in ten minutes is a no go.
So I know that some of the time, at least, the kids are faking their unhappiness. But two can play at that game, and when they reject me and say they want Mommy, I pretend to be upset and then they want to play with me again.
In a different vein, it’s funny how particular the kids can be about their needs. Today Mickey was pouting, asking me repeatedly for a band-aid, so I gave him one that was partially unwrapped. But he didn’t want to have anything to do with it. He wanted to do the unwrapping himself. So I handed him a fresh one.
It’s late enough for me to be really bagged with the sleep deprivation over the last couple of weeks. My eyes have been red for more than a week. There’s no soreness or anything, but the redness is there nevertheless. I am reminded of one of my students who worked so hard for his company (often on the computer) that one day he woke up and couldn’t see or open his eyes, they were so inflamed. Weird. I’ll take a tip from him and call it a day.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:38 am by Max
Yes, folks. I just got back from a date with Mary Jane, and it was very pleasant. I feel I haven’t been able to unwind like this for a while.
The last several months, I’ve been in a more-or-less constant state of minor agitation. I have found it hard to relax, save when I’m exericising (not exactly relaxation, I know, but a definite escape valve from this stressful world) or doing that “other thing” (Shakespeare called it making “the beast with two backs”).
So it was good to unwind tonight. I am not very happy with this feeling agitated all the time. But what can one do? I bet my anxiety has something to do with the buckets of green tea and rather smaller quantities of coffee I imbibe on a regular basis. But the other part of it must be (is?) death anxiety. All human beings are prey to this death anxiety. We all have it, but man’s awareness of it varies by degrees. It is the main motivator of many of our actions. As I plod my way through my 34th year, it strikes me more and more how terrible it is that we are all a whisper away from death. I look at young kids in the street, and then look at shrivelled-up, hunched-over old people, and I think, “What kind of thing is life, this force that produces such a wondrous creation (a child) and then transforms it into a walking prune?” Damn, it’s sad for me that we have to go. That I have to go. That nothing is permanent. And never mind all the animals we destroy (through meat-eating, habitat destruction, animal testing, or whatever) on our (long or short, take your pick) journey out the door.
On the lighter side, though, I find that my balls itch irrespective of my mental or emotional state.
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11.03.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:28 pm by Max
Spent a night at home alone tonight. The wife and kids are at the domicile of the parental-units-in-law. I simply cannot handle the dust in mum-in-law’s bedding, so I can’t sleep there. Last time I tried that I was fucked for a whole day, constant sneezing and runny nose. Here at home I vacuum my bedding nigh day in and day out, so the allergy is kept under control.
This summer the family spent a few good days outdoors together. Here are some shots of us at a public swimming pool in August.
I was carrying more muscle then. Since that time, I have lost about 2-3 kilograms. Lately with the kids it’s been really hard to eat right and exercise properly. I want to be a good dad and it’s hard to balance everything. At some point in the future, when I look back on these days, I’ll be able to say that I tried hard as a father. These days I just don’t have time to eat right or eat when I want to. The other day I woke up and had a quick protein shake and then it was about two hours before I ate breakfast. If you’re serious about bodybuilding you need to prioritize your meals—you can never miss them. The only way I can gain muscle is by eating eight quality meals a day, and I just don’t want to commit to that at this stage.
Right now, the priorities seem to be family and saving and investing for our future. At night I get grumpy, irritated and annoyed when the kids don’t want to go bed early. (They almost never go to bed before 10:30.) I need to get more in the sleep department myself; it’s really been affecting my mood, and my eyes have been red for a week. No more internet for me tonight. It’s 10:30 and time for some serious shut-eye.
Sweet dreams.
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