Philippines correspondent Laurea de Ocampo promises to file daily
As the day approached for Kina and her mother to leave on a two-week trip to the Philippines, it dawned on me that I have never been apart from Kina for this long, for as long as she’s been alive. It then occurred to me that I have not been apart from Laurea for this long, for probably as long as we have been married. I have spent a lot of time with these people; it is strange to be alone.
Usually, when I take a trip away from Kina, whoever is left behind with her edits and produces The Daily Kina while I am gone. There have been outstanding stretches of this publication for which I can take no credit at all; Kina’s grandparents and Laurea have all carried the sacred pens a few times in the last five years. This is the first time that I’m doing TDK myself while I’m apart from Kina.
We’re ready for this; Laurea has shared with me a note from her phone with pictures and quotes and situations that I can draw on (no pun intended) for each of the next fourteen editions. There’s no shortage of material, and Laurea gets to enjoy the same little chuckles I do while writing things down for the next day’s edition. That makes me happy, just knowing that she can hear Kina’s strange muttering as she goes through her day. It’s a great gift.
Daddy, himself an avid 3-point turner, looks on with pride
Being proud of my daughter banging her plastic motorcycle into reverse and pulling it around to the right is probably the most stereotypical dad feeling I have ever had.
Kina visits the Bronx gardens with Hannah and her family
It’s been fun this summer to see Kina spending time with the extended family of Hannah, her nanny and (basically) third parent. This trip to the Bronx Botanical Gardens with Hannah’s aunt and little cousin was the culmination of a week of adventures, and after all the activity, I think everybody welcomed a cup of energy tea.
Child declares that her stuffed animal collection is matriarchal
I didn’t think much about the gender of Kina’s stuffie collection until last night, when I found out that they were all female—a fact that didn’t seem controversial when it finally emerged. I was more curious about the fact that one (and only one) of her crystals was non-binary, but I can get used to that.
After initial bout of entry chaos, they traverse Park Avenue repeatedly while running errands; Mommy + Daddy’s butts pay the price as Kina simply chills
It’s pretty amazing that we’ve never visited Park Avenue during the Summer Streets weekends. If you are a New Yorker and ride a bike, there’s something pretty magical about being able to ride around the Met Life building and stare Cornelius Vanderbilt right in the mug. We must have ridden nearly twenty miles just going back and forth this weekend—it’s fantastic.
Adult humor a tedious mystery to neighborhood wack-a-doodle
I remember feeling this way when I was Kina’s age, and whenever I stumbled on something that made the adults laugh, I’d try to figure out why by just doing the same thing over and over until they stopped laughing. Now Kina does the same thing, and I honestly can’t explain why I think anything is funny, and I wish I could remember what was so funny about being a kid. dad
After surreal weekend in Philly, Kina’s subconscious wants just one more day
It was a great trip, this last weekend. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a day at Coney Island? That’s what Kina’s brain asked overnight. It sounded like a great extra Sunday.
