Japan 2026

There’s this woman an ex partner left me for. I had moved to the Bay Area in part based on this relationship, but in 2016 my job fell apart, which led to a conversation about how serious the relationship was, and the answer was that it shouldn’t exist. While he and I are back on speaking terms, the gent was essentially doing serial monogamy under the label of relationship anarchy, and it was a mess. Morgan and I, however, continue to get on quite well. I even signed as witness on her recent wedding to an incredible human named Jeff. Morgan and Jeff were going to Japan this year, and invited us to go family traveling with them. The exchange rate is amazing right now, so we jumped at the chance.

Japan was such a lovely place to bring a kid. While they have a history of doing a better job of helping their kids be appropriate in various social settings, the experience was universally accommodating for our kiddo, too. Our travel companions weren’t comfortable breast feeding in public, and we didn’t see a lot of infants out, but children are generally given a lot of independence counterbalanced with high expectations and guidance. Being there really bolstered Locke’s confidence and curiosity.

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February Joy : A Day with Family

Reed and my family haven’t been getting on particularly well, so for the family meetup in NYC in February, Locke and I went on our own. This is both stressful and not — Locke is a champ at traveling at this point, but also my family and I have been in a non-child groove of hanging out for 25 years and introducing a 3 year old into the mix has proven difficult. My family really likes winging things and having epic meals together, neither of which work particularly well for a kid who wants to play with LEGOs and has a strict sleep schedule. So I was nervous.

The first two days were a mess. Folks wanted to wander around Manhattan (Locke wants to play in the snow while everyone else wants to walk somewhere; Locke wants to touch everything in stores or gets tremendously bored and destructive while folks are shopping) and have late lunches (beginning right after he should be down for his nap). We did get to go see the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image! We were jet lagged. No one else knows his routine and I had to be along for the ride even when folks did want to help. A (mostly) bad scene. Because of that and other stressors in my life, I actually cried to my mom and brother at the end of the second night, telling them I wasn’t sure I could do a trip like this again. We are not a crying family.

A build-your-own muppet with many eyes, a green nose, grey hair, and purple shirt.

Apparently everyone had a meeting after we left to put Locke down to sleep, and rallied. The following days accounted for Locke needing to sleep at certain points, doing adventures that were kid compatible, and people taking Locke for adventures without my needing to be there. I felt loved and supported by my family.

So on our last night together, we put Locke down for his sleep and he fell asleep quickly. I then went to play cards and drink cider with my family nearby, without feeling any anger about how the day had gone. And that was nice.