As we left the house today to walk to school, A turned to T and said “our hobby is fighting”. I asked why and her reply was because they do it so often.
I thought that was pretty funny especially since i do not think they excessively fight.
Kids
Blink And You Have a 9 Year Old
I am still at times wrapping my head around being a dad at all and T has to go and turn 9. Time really does fly.
For her birthday all she wanted was to not go to after school and go out to eat at her favourite restaurant. Finishing off the evening with cake and a video with the cousins. I thought it was a pretty good birthday. All she really wanted was to not go to school. For the past few years she has been counting down birthdays until its on a weekend.
W Sisters and The Love of Trains, Planes, Buses and Not Automobiles
Ever since the girls were very little they had a fascination with transit. I am not really sure how much of that was implements from M and I. I remember before T could talk we would watch videos on YouTube of trains driving by. I would find a video of the TGV or the Bullet train or whatever that someone would stand by the tracks or station and video the train moving by. Either slowing into a station or blasting by at full speed. There were videos where people pieced this footage together for 10 or 20 minutes. T was fascinated with them. It took me way too long to realise why don’t I just show her Thomas the Tank Engine. I thought that would be much more interesting when just train is moving. Oh I was so wrong about that. She insisted in her non speaking way that she wanted the regular videos.
There were other times that I would take either T buy or sell or both kids in the stroller up to the long run railroad station in Forest Hills. We always tried to take them out for a walk even in the winter. With T’s interest in the YouTube videos as well as general fascination when we took the subway I had the idea of going to the railroad station. That consisted of us standing on a platform waiting for trains to go by. Since the station by our house was on the main line not all trains stopped. They got the experience of seeing a train shoot by at full speed. They also got to see the train stop and have the doors open. We stood by the front of the train platform so the motor man or a conductor would inevitably wave and say hi. I don’t know any times or how long we did this for however it felt like several months since I recall doing it in the freezing cold and the heat.
It was at least more than one instance where we decided to take the LIRR from Forest Hills to Penn Station and then just return home so the girls could experience the railroad.
When the girls were slightly older and we moved to London one of the first things they wanted to do was ride at the top of a double-decker bus. As luck would have it one of the local buses with a stop very close to a house was a double-decker bus. M and A were able to do that one day when T was in school shortly after we arrived. We have the picture showing how happy A was on that fateful trip. What’s funny is I think they only travelled about one or two stops. It did not matter since A cup to sit in the front had a panoramic view of the world. T was not at all happy since she wanted to do the same. That meant M again took them a stop at you on the bus. The photo of T on that day shows one happy little kid.
Girls love of sitting on the top preferably on the front of the double-decker bus has not changed in over two years of living here. It almost doesn’t pay sometimes to go to the top for a short ride since you have to get up and down the stairs with little kids. It doesn’t matter the girls insist on being up top.
The Tube trainsbe have a sealed front and back. That means you cannot look out the front or back of the training to look at the tracks. The DLR on the other hand has a class front and back where you can sit since there is no driver typically. The train is usually on full automatic and there is only a conductor. I mentioned this once to the girls and they were eager to check it out. Now whenever we take the TLR they insist on going to the front or back (preferably the front). If they can they sit on the knees looking out for they stand in the middle holding onto the handrail looking out the open glass front/back of the train. It is always adorable to watch and inevitably M or myself take a picture two.
There transit fascinations are not limited to local trains either. Since we do not have a car we have taken several overground trains. As far back as our first big trip to Edinburgh the girls have enjoyed walking around on the big trains exploring. I don’t mind taking them up and down the cars to see what’s going on. It is generally pretty boring with lots of the same looking cars. Every so often you get a different one like a first-class card or a café car. Even if I am not supposed to be in a first-class car if I am not paying for a first-class surprisingly people looked the other way when you’re walking around two adorable children. Actually the don’t look away you get a lot of hellos. I generally do that with the girls on the train since M gets a little motion sick walking around a lot while the train is moving.
With all their love of trains and buses are not that interested about being on an aeroplane. They love to watch planes take off and land especially at one of the lounges in Gatwick that has a perfect view of the runway. Once we get on a plane however all they want to do is sit and use their tablet to watch a video. I don’t blame them since we limit a lot on their screen time except when we got on an aeroplane. Our most recent trip had some promise for about 2 minutes when we took off T wanted to take photos of the lights and city scape before being distracted.
I do hope when they get older they still have some appreciation or curiosity about trains and buses. I know I do even now. That is why it is even more enjoyable to experience it with them.
W Sisters and the Last Day of Infants School
It does not feel like it was that long ago that my kids were in enrolling in school after we moved to London. My oldest was in Reception and youngest was in Nursery. They were both in the same Infants school.
This week marks the end of the school year. It also marks the end of an era. Both kids now have moved on from the Infant school to the Junior school.
When the oldest moved on last year it felt different yes, however not that different. The younger one was still in the was still in the infants school. Now both girls out of the infants school it forces me to address the fact that they are getting older. The alternative is for me to irrationally ignore that fact that they are getting older. Of course I am going to go for irrationally ignore that and enjoy they are still adorable even thought not in that Nursery or even year 2 kind of way.
With the girls out of school since Wednsday I took 2 days off. We went to a museum they really like, their favorate ice cream place as well as a play date. I feel very accomplished.
W Sisters Short on Singing For Pets
T sang to me a song / advertisement on getting a pet. Not sure where she gets this stuff from however it is very funny and creative. Apparently a goldfish will not do.
Lego Godzilla
I am pleased to report my girls continue to love playing with lego. That is the good news. The bad news is they leave it all over the house. Part of our kitchen floor is dedicated for creations. Shelf’s in their room are filled with projects.
Depending on the day the floor of the living room has half built and played with lego creations. With that obstinate course I have to navigate. Ultimately i end up stepping on lego now and again and in some instances break things that were created
It dawned on me the other day after stepping on something that in the narrative of this lego (and my kids) I am Godzilla come to rampage seemingly indiscriminately and then move on. I am ok with that.
W Sisters on Halloween Well Sort Of
I was reminded at dinner tonight that Christmas Eve or more specifically 24 December is Rainbow’s birthday. It is not widely known rainbow is another name for T’s lovie money also know as Dee Dee. I think originally rainbow’s birthday was on Christmas however that date got changed recently.
What did not know until today dinner was that 24 December is also Halloween from stuffed animals. I know that fact about stuffed animal Halloween is not widely known since I had I known about it nor had anyone mentioned it to me until now. It was widely known I am not sure why no one decided to tell me until today.
If the stuffed animal community was trying to keep this day on the download and I apologise for publicising it on this blog. I am a positive for them not sure how many people actually read this.
W Sisters and The Story of Not Even The Best of What’s Available Bagels
When is school started again this September the girls extra-curricular activity routine changed a bit. They previously had gymnastics on Friday’s. The Gymnastics place could not use the same venue due to new guidelines. The requirements to do swim seemed kind of ridiculous so we stopped that on Saturdays. In the end our new routine became a Saturday morning gymnastics class with the same people at a different venue. For now we had to give up on swim.
On her first outing at the new gymnastics location M found a little bakery that sold bagels and Challah bread. The girls ate the bagels on the walk back to the bus. The venue was about 15 minute walk to and from any public transportation so to keep the girls motivated and distracted bagels were a great idea. The girls then had Challah toast and sandwitches for several days that week.
When it was my turn to take the girls I found the same bakery and following the same routine. The girls gave instructions that they bagels. After a 15 minute walk in the rain to a small bakery that was packed and the only place I could sit and have coffee while the girls were in gymnastics was outside in the rain I decided that routine was not for me. The next time i took the girls i found a Costa coffee that was closer and had plenty of inside seating that was socially distanced.
For M she continued the routine since the girls loved the bagels. I should point out that these were relatively small bagels. They were plain. And I doubt any native New Yorker would consider then any good. Sadly the girls loved them.
My routine instead was to take the girls out for breakfast. I may have written about my routine with them when we had drama class on Saturday mornings. I did the same thing then. The girls were happy enough for their pancakes sausage and eggs along with orange juice to forgo bagels when I took them.
When the new lockdown happened in early November we weren’t sure if gymnastics would be cancelled. It turns out in person gymnastics was cancelled. They did offer zoom classes around the same time in person class would have been. For the first session we moved our coffee table out of the living room and the girls had a decent amount of carpeted space to do their workout. Since we were not out and about to go to the bakery I thought to go to Sainsbury’s for a few things. They had the bagels pictured so I decided to pick up a bag. Just looking at the bag it is apparent they are not New York bagels regardless of what the label says. M correctly points out these bagels look more like the frozen lenders bagels from our childhood. Nevertheless I got a bag and took them home with some cream cheese or as they call it in the UK “soft.cheese”. The girls were super happy for the surprise.
This weekend after the girls gymnastics in the living room I told M I was going to go back to Sainsbury’s to get bagels. She said why doesnt she just make pancakes. My reply was the effort to get bagels is pretty easy compaired to making pancakes however if she wanted to make pancakes she could feel free to do so. I did not mind the walk. She agreed bagels it was. I don’t realise it was pouring out so I opted to go to the local Co-op that is significantly closer to the house. I really did not want to track all the way to Sainsbury’s in the rain. Yet again the girls were very happy and had two bagels each.
Whenever we get to visit New York again we intend to take them to our favourite big place in Forest Hills again. They remember it however I am not sure if they will appreciate remember how much better the bagels taste than they do now.
W Sisters and The Story of Bun-Bun
Sometime within the past year and a half I started telling A that when I worked from home on Fridays I had lunch with her stuffed animal Bun-Bun. I don’t really remember why I did it. I thought it was cute so I kept up the narrative. I offered to T that her hamster stuffed animal was hanging out also. She wanted nothing to do with it so it was just Bun-Bun and I for Friday work from home lunch.
When I went to Bangkok last July I wanted to do something fun with the girls while I was away. I asked if I could take on Bun-Bun along with me since she and I were buddies. T at first also agreed to let me take her stuffed hamster (she is named hamster) as well. Then T backed out of it.
A was excited to let me take Bun-Bun. I took pictures throughout my trip of Bun-Bun on the plane, working as well as out and about in Bangkok. A seemed to enjoy it and I actually had fun doing it. The colleague I travelled with got into it as well. He offered to take pictures wherever we went. Flight attendants on different flights took photos for me. My friend even reminded me a few times if I wanted a photo opportunity. Overall it was a very fun experience.
With us all being home now due to the lockdown the other day A asked when I was going to do lunch with Bun-Bun. Today in the morning she showed up in my home office and brought Bun-Bun to me saying she wanted to hang out. I had to utilise the opportunity to get a picture of. I am barn having a cold brew with me.
Now I need to think of other stuff to do with my buddy Bun-Bun.
W Sisters Story T on Operational Security
T has on a few occasions mentioned passwords to me. She wanted me to guess the password to open her journal that she has that she draws in. We get the girls little notebooks that they doodle in. When they fill it up we get another one. They got ones in Italy and they would sit and draw paintings at museums. They were getting full by the time we went to Ireland last May and got them new ones there. I have also picked up one or two that have little locks on them. They both requested them and even spent their own money to get them.
T has a notebook that does not have a lock on it. The other day she asked me to guess her password. I tried a few times and couldn’t. I was getting a little annoyed with her since she kept insisting i guess. I had no context to go on so guessing was going nowhere. Then I realised she did not want me to not just pull a password out of thin air. She had written about 30 or so odd lines in her notebook. Each started with a letter and then had other charicters and maybe a letter or two throw in. The page she showed me is this posts picture. It looked like she made her own sheet of passwords. She asked me to guess what one was hers to open the book. I guessed the password that started with the letter T. She smiled and said i was correct.
It wasnt the first time she talked passwords. It was the most recent and also the most involved effort put in by her. I find it very funny that she is in some odd way she is already thinking about operational security! That and she really liked the spy “job” at Kidzania both times she went.