She progresses from sketching coyly to dramatic salsa dares with Manolo, Sourav, and Rio
Kina had until now never met her cousins from Singapore, but they spent the last two days together, and now I’m not sure Kina won’t move to Singapore to spend more time with them.
they hide in a redwood, investigate dead slugs, find ferns, and locate outhouses
Big day for nature out here. I didn’t illustrate the bit about outhouses, but it was the second funniest part of the day (after “Chickens make pine cones look better.”)
I’m slowly recharging from the exhaustion of being in the middle of all the news (literally and figuratively). I do not take any of these trees or tide pools for granted.
Viola and Lisa join Kina in giggles and wordless games of tag as families from Rome and Brooklyn share tacos; Bonnie arrives and the crew run for apples
Kina realizes she can send text messages from her ipad, exchanges Daddy in lengthy text exchanges about Mommy, creates group chat called “Kitties!”
As the sole recipient of these text messages, I am celebrating Kina’s willingness to engage with me in yet another communication space. As the parent of a tween, I am slightly nervous.
After eight turns getting tangled in various garments and yarns, player tries to escape world; they spend four days in surrealist wonderland
A selection of the chapters from our week-long campaign:
The Missing Person and a Dangerous Lily Into the Garden With Many Sculptures Mice Cannot Mail Packages Through the Mirror To Mia P for Pusheen Another Puzzle, the Wrong Key A Swiftly Flooding Apartment Who Am I? Mia and the Too-Small Door The Interrupting Cow A Trade of Keys Heroes in the Garden
Kina, Daddy, and Mommy agree that it’s time for an immigrant to run NYC.
I drew this paper last night (which, since I am scheduling this ahead of time, is confusingly the 23rd of June), and I am writing this newsletter the night of the 24th, just minutes after Cuomo conceded the Democratic nomination for mayor to Zohran Kwame Mamdani. It feels good for this paper to have gotten at least one endorsement right.
I started doing this in bad times, and for a while the times were not so bad, and now there is cruelty and war that has ratcheted up so suddenly that it stuns you into forgetting that it is always there, has been there, has hardened into what American now means to the world. This war, these wars, are sold to citizens as necessary to avoid their own obliterations. Our obliteration, the casual trampling of communities as people, is the point. What this is, Kina, is resistance.
I’m behind on posting, as always, so it bears mentioning that I wrote this the night that Trump dropped bombs on Iran. Protect people from power.
Oh boy is she on the cusp of the great pre-teen existential crisis
I remember feeling this way, staring off into the distance and wondering about the meaning of life. As long as she doesn’t feel bothered by it, I’m all for the mystery. Space looks weird…
With fellow action heroes absent, Kina jumps, dives, and rolls alone in front of adoring audience
It was in this moment, watching Kina perform precision acrobatics in front of a hundred parents alongside trained professionals as the only kid from her class to show up, that I knew she was all guts.
Requests immediate purchase of makeup wipes before going to dinner
I thought the kitty face was cute, but I think she wanted more tufts of fur. I tried to explain that it was free face paint, but that didn’t help my cause.
Kina explores the many colloquial facets of danger over hot pasta
I, for one, am a fan of “this cake is dangerous”, and not “this militarization of major cities for political gain is dangerous”, but I suppose I don’t get to pick, do I?
Kina’s nightly affirmation extends hope for healthy mom-kid relations
I’m sure that Kina will actually become a teen soon enough, but that won’t undo this bit of adoration that she utters every night to Laurea. I hope it sustains them both.
Family pulls off culinary magic as culmination of 3 week popping boba experiment
I am extremely confident that Kina’s Kid Teacher session on the chemical reaction between sodium alginate and calcium lactate in solution was the best one of the entire year. I am tremendously proud of her and so grateful that I finally gave in and bought distilled water 24 hours before the class—a final, crucial variable in the art of popping boba.
Kina starting to get concerned, as he shows no signs of getting younger
Kina is getting really sensitive about her parents growing older, and since I am generally regarded as The Eldest In The Family, she’s extra touchy about my age and gray (not white) hair. It has been sort of interesting to note how much more she is worried about my getting old than I am worried about my getting old, because I think I have much more to lose in the bargain here. Still, it’s touching to think about what I mean to her and why the idea of my not being here someday makes her nervous. I remember feeling that way about my own father when I was younger—maybe a little bit older than Kina—and wanting to make sure he was wearing his seatbelt and driving carefully. I still worry about him and my mom in the ways that Kina worries about me and Laurea, but I have a lot more life with them than Kina has with me. I can’t do a whole lot to assuage her concerns about mortality, but I have at least promised her that I will drive carefully.
Daddy gives her a sturdy pinch on the arm; it is subsequently decided that this is as real as life gets
I also sometimes wonder this, and I have reached the conclusion that if life is a dream, it’s still life.
Also: Though this issue is dated the first of June, is it currently my birthday. In roughly four and a half days, if everything goes as planned, you will see the actual birthday edition. Someday, later, I will finally catch up to the present day.
Ms. Rockfeld drops the hammer on bathroom break side quests to 2nd grade
It took her the better part of a school year, but Ms. Rockfeld eventually caught on. Kina still sees Mr. Ortiz at pick-up, so it’s all a wash in the end.
She eventually agrees to set table properly and responsibly after Daddy goes on impromptu hunger strike; tears are shed but Daddy gives big huggies
Kina is obsessed with fairness, but she doesn’t always see the big picture. I showed her how it was unfair that I couldn’t eat without a spoon, and it really sent her on a journey of the soul. We ended up okay, though. She’s big. It’s a thing.
