Every once in a while, I discover something about Kina and me that seems obvious to each of us in ways that actually highlight little inheritances we share. Today, that is orange.

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Kina agreed with the owners of this house that she would feed the strays this week, and she has now demonstrated her skill at delegation by making me scoop wet cat slop out of a can, which is totally convincing me that it would be a great idea to adopt a cat, as she has long demanded.

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Kina has become a true admirer of the garden outside the house we rent when we come to the East Bay. It’s not just because of the strawberries, either. She seems to appreciate the magic of all-encompassing vegetation in ways that I can’t quite get my head around. Then again, most of the plants are nearly as tall as she is—she can literally be lost in the weeds, which seems quite nice as a vacation hobby.

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She got the chocolate chip cookie as a gift from the chef of the hotel restaurant after she sent him a note thanking him for feeding her so well. She signed it, “Gratefully, Kina”. She really is the mayor.

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Clap-out for fourth grade was predictably a little weepy today. Good teachers, kind humans, growing hearts. I remember this feeling—it really is the age at which you’re neither too young nor too old, and it passes like that. Congratulations to our publisher for becoming the oldest grade in school.

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Protect this child’s rectangle cheese.

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Kina is enjoying this week at school and I am definitely that parent who is like “but what about the virtues of learning?!”

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At this point, I think I just like painting waves.

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There are many stories in this city, but no fairy tales.

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I have really worn out the whole “punishment must fit the crime” angle with Kina as a response to when she whirls up and slaps me on the lower back or chest. Now that she’s going through a growth spurt, the clarity around “no unprovoked violence” is setting in for both of us. Yes, I’m annoying; we must find another way!!!

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ACCEPT ONLY NECESSARY

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Lots of cringing going on in yesterday’s edition here.

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There are several moments in your life where you feel like you’re not quite too old. Senior year of high school, junior year of college, 23, 37. I am well past that, but it’s good to know that Kina has it all laid out ahead of her.

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Regarding the Noise-Making Toy article here: I was shocked to find I had never written about the “Interesting Game” device until today, fully six years after its arrival on our doorstep from Amazon. Laurea bought it in a pandemic haze as an attempt to “keep Kina off screens”, leading only to a constant stream of weirdly high pitched techno and heavily accented declarations of “SHOES!” The Interesting Game is dead. Long live the Interesting Game.

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Each one teach one: walking to the bodega edition.

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A trophy, a lifetime’s worth of ramen, and the enduring love of a city that sees themselves in you. Long time coming. I love this team, and I hope they enjoy the noodles. LGK

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I couldn’t bear to tell her that I was a full-blown adult in the nineties. Too much for the ego to bear.

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I remember having dreams like this when I was Kina’s age, becoming aware of the fragility of things and the things that could hurt my parents. (In one dream, my dad got in a car accident and wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, which made me constantly anxious about seatbelts for a while.) Last night, Kina asked Laurea if we had insurance and how insurance worked, which seemed like a strange line of questioning until the nightmare came up—a burning house and an injured father. Things are scary and uncertain, but we are here, still. My dad never did get in that car accident. I am okay. We are okay.

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This is next level teacher trolling and I am here for it.

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Best possible start to my birthday: an essay on omelettes, a raucous recorder performance of “We Will Rock You”, and twenty-one fourth graders singing Happy Birthday to me. May this entire year carry that same energy.

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