We used to be a cussin’ house, but ever since Kina started to speak, we have pulled sharply back—not because we are afraid of her becoming a linguistic ruffian, but because we are frankly too lazy to deal with the judgment of other parents in the matter of coarse language. This means that I, too, have become a “frickin” person, which is a source of endless amusement to Laurea—we assume Kina picked it up from me, but I can’t say I’ve heard her use the word before today. As a miracle of language acquisition, she is using it appropriately, in its nuanced “yet another irritating…" sense: “I have [yet another irritating] booboo”, “I stubbed [yet another irritating] toe”. The bathtub booboo is, to be fair, a relatively common issue in our house (which explains the “frickin”), and it must always be respected; no heavy scrubbing of the booboo, the occasional standing bath to avoid dipping the booboo, the immediate bandaging of the booboo after. It’s no small source of pride to me that our daughter is constantly crashing into things and tumbling off platforms—we wear our bruises well here—but of course we want her to weather the booboos well. In a way, then, it feels good to know that she can vent her frustration, as it takes the pressure off of us to keep her from experiencing it in the first place. In this frickin’ frustrating year, it’s nice to fire off a mild obscenity to clear the air—I’d encourage you all to do it, in Kina’s honor.

Someone Puked on the McCarren Swings

File this under “things Kina says that she will say again in sixteen years”—when she is a college student on the way to the dining hall on a Sunday morning (should that ever happen to college students again). She would want me to tell you that the puker was not her.

“Daddy’s Talking And Disturbing Me. That’s What ‘Disturbing’ Means”

In case you were wondering, the sound of me talking is the very definition of the word “disturbing”—a concept she is exploring in some depth this week. Besides the sound of my voice, you can also find me disturbing her by sitting on the couch and pausing her TV show.

Parade is pretty much all Kina today, with the exception of one or two construction paper cuttings. The inverted green teardrop is from me, as is the rushed wordmark at the top (as always). The theme today was supposed to be “boats”—we leave it to you to find the connection.

Hope your week is frickin’ fine, and may the chaos of the world leave you all undisturbed. Send this newsletter along to a friend if you think they need some mindless toddler news.

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