Tag Archives: locke

December Joy : Snow storm!

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You may remember from back in February, Locke and I went to NYC to meet up with my family to spend some time with them. Things have been tender since a falling out a year or three ago, but we’re rebuilding confidence with each other. We have weekly calls again, and have been trying to meet up. I asked my parents if they’d like a wintertime visit, and we arranged just after Thanksgiving. I was nervous, but knew it would be worth the investment.

Not only was time with grandma and grandpa much easier, but we also got a snow storm!

Snow map showing 1-6 inches across my area of Indiana.

As the storm kicked off, Locke and I made our way to a Rural King (yes, really) to try to get him some snow clothes. Queue my being dressed as “clearly not from here” in a subtly rainbow long wool coat, subtly rainbow jeans, plus black stompy boots waiting patiently while my child has a meltdown on the floor screaming about how “boring” all the boots and clothing there are. The looks. Admittedly we were underslept and jet lagged from the travel, but they don’t know that. We finally picked out some too-big boots that were at least purple and a black jacket. We had to go to the nearby Carhart dealer to get snow bibs in his size. Yes, there’s a Carhart dealer. So now my child, he looks like a farmer. But at least he can go into the snow!

Locke looking pleased with himself in camo snow bibs and magenta sweater.
Locke making a snow angel
Grandpa dragging Locke around the flat yard on an orange plastic sled. Everything is covered in snow.

But Northern Indiana, you see, is very flat. So grandpa and I took turns dragging Locke around the yard on a sled so he could get some of the experience. The next door neighbors have a tiinnnny hill in their yard that’s about 3 feet tall and 10 feet long. They invited us over! So Locke got to have a tiny sledding experience.

So that was pretty dang joyful. Then we went inside and sat by the fire and read books, which is The Main Thing My Family Does, so I was glad to share that with Locke as well.

July Joy : Kids at Priceless

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So as I’ve mentioned before, I help out with this medium-sized anticapitalist campout in the woods with lots of music and art. I love it. It also drives me batty.

As one might imagine, a festival that’s been running for 20 years has some Complex Feelings on a few topics. One of those topics is kids. Way back when the crew of friends who threw the event started having one or two grubs emerging, they sat down and had a (really long) discussion. What they arrived at was: Priceless is a festival for adults that Priceless-friendly kids are welcome at. It is up to the adults in their lives to mediate their experience, and no one is to censure themselves or change their behavior just because there are kids present.

Locke in a gnomish pointed straw hat, tiedye shirt, and shorts kneels in front of a circle made of upright sticks in the sand. There are some leaves and a bottle cap in the center of the circle. Floaties and sandals are in the background.

Over the years, the number of kids increased. And the message was a bit lost. A couple years ago, I was on People Team, and multiple people mentioned choosing art or changing their musical acts because of kiddos being present. Others weren’t in the headspace they wanted to be in while there were kids present. So we sat down again for another long conversation about kids at Priceless. And we realized that we were all on board for the original message. Priceless isn’t kid-friendly, but Priceless-friendly kids are welcome. We wrote some new things — refined the child waiver that sets out expectations, and also put together an expectations doc that all attendees can read to level-set.

Estelle and Yulia put together the area called Kidsville this year; and Reed, JoJo (grandma), and I brought Locke to his first Priceless.

We went camping twice this year in anticipation of Priceless — once for one night, and then a follow-up with birthday buddy Liora for two nights. Camping was a smash hit, but we were still nervous to have him at a festival. So much stimulation, so many people, such a bigger area than our usual campground. But we got set up near 3 other families we know well and ended up with a little living room area in addition to the big Kidsville lounge area a short walk away. And Locke LOVED it. I was mostly preoccupied with helping the whole event run, but the rest of the fam swam in the river, and ate pancakes, and dug in the sand.

Willow, Reed, and Locke cuddle on some grass. Willow sits upright in a bikini top with lots of tattoos and signature blue hair. Reed has a pink mohawk and head in Willow's lap. Locke leans against Willow with one leg held up and a smile.

By the end of the event, our reserved kiddo was going up to strangers to ask them to play with him. The noise levels weren’t too much for him! And he did a great job of playing with the other kids. Being in such a high-trust environment was good for all of us. Looking forward to similar experiences in the future.

May Joy : Pedal Bike!

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I sold my last car in 2008. While I’ve had motorcycles since then, it’s been important to me to be car free. Reed and I are deeply aligned on that, and have structured the entirety of our lives around this.

I got into bicycles in 2016 when Reed, Tilde, and Rubin built me up a city bike. This was before Reed and I had met, mind you. I loved that bike. I didn’t understand why I’d ever want anything more than 7 speeds. Now bikes are by far my preferred mode of transit, including biking the 50 miles into the office some mornings when I’m going in.

A spreadsheet of bicycles with columns for years starting in 2016 and rows for each bicycle I've owned. Each bike also gets a rating and a status.

I love bicycles. And my life is built around that love at this point. So we were reasonably anxious about how Locke would feel about bicycles. He was in an infant car seat in the front of our Load 75 before his due date. We also had both the Yepp Mini for the front of the bike (way more fun) and the Yepp Maxi for the back of the bike (when he got too big for the Mini and for when we have a full cargo load in the Load 75). We have to ride to preschool even when it’s raining or the traffic is bad. There are lots of opportunities for him to decide that bikes aren’t for him. And we have friends who love bikes whose kiddos just never really got into it.

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