Haircuts, Eli, Yokohoma

Isaac got his hair cut a little over a month ago.  The boys usually go to QB house, similar to great clips.  It's only $13 compared to $60 plus.  The haircuts they get at QB house are usually not too bad--not perfect, but acceptable.  Isaac came with a photo and showed what he wanted.  I stayed in the hallway and I could tell when I glanced in that he was not going to be happy with the cut.  He came out super deflated, telling me he no longer wanted the shake he had begged for before the cut.  It was pretty bad, perhaps the worst cut he's gotten so far.  After a few days he decided to let Eli cut his hair because Eli has been talking about wanting to learn to give haircuts.  I commend Isaac's bravery.  The entirety of Eli's hair cutting experience is watching some YouTube videos.  He did it and we all decided it was a better job than the original cut but there wasn't too much Eli could do to fix what had been done at QB house.  Isaac refuses to go back so it looks like I'm going to be scheduling a time to take him to the English speaking salon I go to.

Since we are on the subject of Eli, he has been getting himself all around Tokyo this month and it's really impressive to me.  He had to get himself to Akihabara, an hour north.  He'd never been and was slightly nervous to go by himself.  We reviewed the route on google maps and I reminded him where to find the platform, whether it was a local/limited express/express train, and how to find the correct line (Chioda, Hibiya, JR, etc).  I told him to message me when he arrived, which he did, but then I didn't hear from him again for almost eight hours.  When he got home I sat him down and explained that even though I am a fairly hands off parent in some ways, I still worry.  I don't put an app on their phones to track their whereabouts, or message and text them all the time.  I don't need to know every part of their plan and every person they will be with.  I trust the boys to make good decisions and I value them having independence.  But!  Just because I don't do those things doesn't mean I don't worry about them, especially when I know they are going around town on routes they've never taken before by themselves.  Eli, in particular, is not great at checking in.  He also doesn't always have a lot of battery on his phone.  So, when he doesn't message me I worry if he got lost, or if he had enough money to put on on his tain card.  I asked him to please just send me a quick message from time to time letting me know he was okay. 

The next day he woke up early to catch the bus to school for Spirit Day.  The school busses were already full so he decided just to walk to the train station and get himself to the school.  It is an hour ride in the opposite direction as the day before with four different train changes (one in the busiest train station in Tokyo that is well-known for people getting lost in) and ending with a bus ride.  I woke up an hour after he left and noticed he was gone.  I messaged him to say good morning and tell him I was glad he was able to catch the bus.  He nonchalantly told me he was on the train and had almost successfully made the trip.  He's such a brave kid and I love how he just calmly decides to get himself places with little to no assistance.  After the talk the previous day, he respectfully messaged me before coming home so I knew where he was and what his plan was.  

And since we are on the subject of taking trains...

A few weeks ago Mike had a ten-day trip to Korea.  His trips always land on days when the kids have a break and it's annoying.  I decided we needed to get out of the house and I had heard about an Indian festival in Yokohama, an hour south.  My boys love Indian food and there was supposed to be Bali dancing and curry/naan bread food stalls.  So on a whim we decided to go.  I got us all there with little issue but the park where the festival was supposed to be held had no Indian festival in sight.  We looked up the website and it said the exact location and time and day but we saw nothing remotely related to an Indian festival.  I still don't know what happened.  It was a lovely day outside and the park was full of people picnicing and playing.  We decided to walk to Chinatown, which was just a few blocks away and we got the girls an ice cream cone and the boys and I shared a strawberry milk boba.  Then, we went home.  It was kind of a lame outing honestly, for such a long trip, but we got out of the house and again, I was able to see how far I've come in fighting my anxiety by taking the kids on trips by myself without overthinking things.  

Finally, I'm including photos from mornings getting ready for school (you don't wear a box on your head while you get your school stuff together?) and of the favorite spot in our house.  I could do a couch series and take a million photos of any one of the kids laying in this spot.