Matt Adventures, Dad Stuff, Family, Japanese, The Domestic Specialist, Toddler, Travel

TRAVEL ANXIETY

The good thing about having a Japanese wife is that you get to travel to the other side of the world and visit her family. The bad thing about having a Japanese wife is that you get to travel to the other side of the world to visit her family.

I love when we are able to travel to Japan. I really, really do, but a 12 1/2 hour direct flight to another country always proves to bring a certain level of anxiety. But now, having a toddler who is going to sit on your lap for 12 1/2 hours doesn’t just bring mild anxiety, it’s downright nerve wracking!

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Matt Dad Stuff, Food, Friends, Japanese, Travel

INTERNATIONAL PLAY DATE

One of Aya’s friends, Kame-chan, just happens to live only 30 minutes away by train.  They have been friends since they were in middle school and now they both have kids.  And with her living so close to Aya’s parents, it was time for Ellie to have her first international play date.  Since Ellie had to miss Japanese School this month, I thought this could be a great substitute too.  Kame-chan’s son, Koutarou, is only nine months old and is just a crawler.  So Ellie and her rambunctious almost two-year old self, plus a crawler, two languages and some good food should make for a pretty great afternoon, right?

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Matt Dad Stuff, Family, Japanese, Sleep, Travel

OPERATION SKIP THE NAP

So far, Ellie’s sleep schedule has been the main event of our visit in Japan.  I don’t think either of us will feel like we are really here, or able to enjoy the sights until Ellie is more adjusted.  So Aya reached out to a friend who’s traveled to Japan many times with her kids for some advice on how to cope.  The advice was to skip Ellie’s nap.  What!?  Skip a nap!?  Are you crazy!?  It kind of made sense, but it also frightened me.  Her major freak outs have occurred from being over-tired.  Skipping a nap seemed like adding fuel to the fire.  But giving her a nap didn’t work, so this was worth a shot.  But before we dropped it all together, I figured we’d try letting her have a catnap in her stroller for a little bit, just to take the edge off.  So that was our plan.

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Matt Dad Stuff, Family, Japanese, Sleep, Travel

TIME ZONE CONFUSION

This jet lag business is totally taking me back to when Ellie was an infant when each day felt like two days.  Part one, and part two.  We didn’t like part two then, and it’s no picnic now either.  After the first night here, we knew it was important to get Ellie, and us, adjusted to the new time zone as soon as possible.  So after our first full day, we figured if she had a nap, she’d be good for bed time.  She was totally backed up on sleep and desperately needed rest.  But somehow, this turned out to be a very bad idea.

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Matt Dad Stuff, Family, Japanese, Travel

SURVIVING THE FIRST NIGHT

Well, we made it!  We are in Japan!  We survived a 12 and half hour flight with an almost two year old, plus an hour long train ride, and made it up to the seventh floor of my in-law’s place in Japan.  After an approximately 18 hour doorstep to doorstep journey, into a time zone the completely opposite of our own, we were glad to be on the ground and in one spot for awhile.  And the first order of business was to try to get Ellie adjusted, and rested to her new surroundings as soon as possible so we could all get some much needed rest.

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