Spring has Sprung

Spring is officially here marking a time of new beginnings, including me being a more involved parent. After missing out on parenting for most of March and early April, I definitely doubled down for the remainder of April and May.  

We wrapped up another fun season of BMX on Sundays and another season of soccer which included games on both Saturdays and Sundays resulting in a few missed races, a few missed games and one weekend where we had to divide and conquer.  For this specific weekend, Oskar had a soccer game on Sunday and Alva wanted to go to BMX.  I assumed I would take Alva to BMX in Napa with the car and Martin could use the eBike to get Oskar to his game in the city.  The night before, I checked in with Alva to make sure I understood the routine for getting her set up at the BMX gates (something Martin normally does). She tried to explain what she needed for maybe two seconds and realized she didn’t want to deal with teaching me the process she and Martin have carefully crafted over the past four seasons and instead proposed “How about this: How about Papa takes me to BMX.”  

And so with Martin needing the car to drive to Napa, Oskar and I opted to ride in style to his soccer game.  We splurged on our first ride in a Waymo, the self-driving car seen all around the city.  It was awesome! It felt like riding with a very cautious but safe driver who obeyed all traffic rules; it felt like being a celebratory with passing cars and pedestrians stopping to get a better look; it felt great not having to make small talk or avoid making small talk with a driver; it was fun to rock out our own music as loud as we wanted; it felt like a piece of the future available to only a few in San Francisco.  

The day got even better, when, while at the game, they let me be the line ref and even gave me a red flag to use! And later, with ice cream in the park with old Covid friends.

There were a few mothering mishaps and unappreciated efforts that followed.  After countless requests, I finally decided to make banana bread for the kids only to be told that Martin makes it better and Alva discovered a chunk of unsifted baking soda in one of her bites resulting in an over exaggerated spitting out of said banana bread and her running to the bathroom to wash out her mouth. Checkmate kiddos, I was clearly defeated. 

We were also informed just before Spring Break ended that the first week back would be “Spirit Week” and one of those days you were supposed to dress like something that begins with the first letter of your name… honestly who comes up with this shit.  Oskar opted for an Olchi (for those unfamiliar with this niche German book/cartoon, check out this link).  So a 2 day delivery from Amazon, followed by a late night of pulling together a costume, and I think we nailed it.  Only to be told the morning of that he didn’t want to wear the outfit.  Cool cool.  

April 26 was “Bring your Kids to Work” day for my office and it just happened to line up with a random Independent Study Day at school. So the kids came with me to Redwood City for a day at my office.  It was such a fun day that I would actually pull them out of school next year to join.  We had a science show, magic show, popcorn machine, cotton candy machine, painting class, photo booth, pizza and hot dogs for lunch and soft serve ice cream with all of the toppings on demand all day.

At the end of April, we were invited to a birthday party at the Presidio Bowling Alley, where I used to bowl in a league pre-Switzerland.  The set up was the same, but unfortunately they have since discontinued the bowling pin shaped beer bottles. The party continued at the birthday boy’s house in the Presidio and a few glasses of adult beverages were enjoyed by a few moms including yours truly.  We had to leave before I was ready (because it had been so long since I had a drink during the day in San Francisco) to head to a soccer match for Alva where there was a strong showing from her team (all 14 kids were there) and not such a strong showing from the other team (they had 4).  Refusing to let the kids sit on the sidelines, and fueled by a little bit of the previously consumed champagne, I pulled together a group of kids and siblings to play a game against the parents on a side field. Four adults were willing to have a go including yours truly and we gave it our best but ultimately lost due to rampant cheating on the side of the kids. 

And then two days later, after such a big month of family fun, Martin tested positive for covid.  My parenting skills were apparently in demand and needed for just a few more days and I was ready!

Teeth brushing fun

Coffee shop breakfasts before school

Rainy day forts

Another Waymo ride to school!