This past Sunday was Franny’s sixth birthday! Of course, we celebrated all weekend long. Actually, in the US her birthday is celebrated all September long between parties with great-grandparents, school parties, kids’ parties, and on-the-day celebrations. Reducing it to only 3 days was a vast improvement, not to mention a lot cheaper.
On Friday, we had birthday cake from Costco. Similar to Costco cakes in the US, it was absolutely enormous. The woman that brought it to me from the bakery asked if we were having a party. I couldn’t bring myself to admit a cake that could serve 60 people was purchase for consumption by only three, so I simply smiled and said, “Yes.”
Other than the size, this was not at all a US Costco cake. In the US, the cakes are almost too sweet to eat. But somehow my fighting spirit triumphs, and I always find a way. On Friday, however, we had a Costco cake that was definitely Japanese. Instead of butter cream, empirically the best frosting, it was whipped cream frosting, which is significantly less sugary. The whole cake probably contained half the sugar you would find in a US Costco cake. We ended up sharing some with neighbors. (See! I told you we were having a party.) One neighbor thanked me the next day and commented that the cake “was very sweet.” And this is why the Japanese are not famous for their delicious and indulgent desserts.
On Saturday, we went to the (technically closed) beach for the day. The crowd was significantly smaller, there were no lifeguards on duty, and all the buoys had been removed. Seemingly, beach season in Japan only lasts about six weeks from the end of July through August. This is despite temperatures in the 90s from June through September. At least, I am hoping this heat ends before October. There was a perfect salty ocean breeze on Saturday that made time on the sand and in the water vastly enjoyable but also made paddle boarding immensely difficult. At least it was a good workout.
Finally, the actual day of Franny’s birthday was celebrated at a Rockabilly Festival complete with early rock music, classic American cars, and 1950s fashion. Let me just say that thick Japanese hair can be styled into one hell of a pompadour. It was kind of wild to experience a celebration of retro American culture in Japan among Japanese people. In hindsight, I guess it is technically cultural appropriation, but we loved it. In fact, it made me kind of homesick.
As an aside, it is hard to believe that it is mid-September already. A few people have recently commented that we are halfway through our time in Japan. An odd statement because we are in the eighth month out of a total 23 months. As previously mentioned, I am not the best at math, but based on my calculations we are not at the halfway point yet. That said, I totally understand the comment. Once mid-September arrives, it seems like you blink and it is Christmas. So even though it is September, it is basically December. While the days seem to fly by all year long, this time traveling feels unique to this season. You would never hear someone say in January that “it’s basically April.”
Like most kids, Franny’s favorite part of her birthday is the presents. She got her third Elsa doll, because Lord knows you can never have too many; a dollhouse; a magic wand; and a skateboard to name a few. She even got an unexpected birthday gift from her school - Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD).
On the Thursday before her birthday, I had to drop our vehicle off at the rental office to fix the small scratches I allegedly, definitely, caused. I felt bad because my Japanese teacher met me at the vehicle dealership to assist with translation. It was supposed to be her day off, but she generously agreed to help out. About 30 minutes after leaving the dealership in my rental vehicle, my teacher called. Franny’s school called her to request that I pick up Franny because she had HFMD. Bumps started to appear on Franny’s hands and in her mouth during circle time.
While I collected Franny, my teacher called around to find a local pediatrician who was open and could see Franny for an appointment later that day. As my luck would have it, many Japanese pediatricians are closed on Thursdays. My teacher was able to get us an appointment, and she even accompanied us to assist with translation again. Forty-five minutes at a car dealership, phone calls, and an hour at a pediatrician, if there is a better way to spend your day off, I cannot think of it. (I bought her a nice bottle of wine as a thank you, but I still feel terrible.)
In case you are unfamiliar, like I was until last week, HFMD is a common illness for children to contract while at school or daycare. Particularly, babies are prone to the illness as they put their little mouths on everything. Franny started daycare when she was three months old. Remarkably, she made it all the way to three days before her sixth birthday without contracting it. HFMD is marked by red bumps on – you guessed it – the hands, feet, and mouth. Sometimes the bumps can be painful like blisters and some kids have a fever. Fortunately, Franny has felt well.
Never having dealt with the disease before, I did what any intelligent, educated, and loving mother would do. I googled it. According to Google AI’s answer, I needed to decontaminate our whole house. So that’s what I did. I wiped down every surface. I wiped down all of Franny’s Barbies. I mopped the hardwood and disinfected the carpet in Franny’s playroom. I washed Franny’s mattress cover, sheets, and comforter. She has also developed a habit of crawling into our bed in the mornings, so I washed my mattress cover, my sheets, and my comforter. Since our laundry hangs dry outside, I had to carefully consider what to wash first to ensure those items for which we only have one, like comforters and my mattress cover, would be dry by the time we went to bed. Whereas, items for which we have duplicates, like sheets, could be washed later. I am truly becoming a master of the ancient Japanese art of laundry hanging.
With the house decontaminated, several loads of laundry completed, and another load in the wash, it was time to head to the doctor’s appointment. The doctor granted permission for Franny to return to school the next day and permission to be out in public. He said that while Franny will be contagious for approximately four weeks, HFMD spreads through saliva, urine, and feces. Thus, as long as she was careful and washed her hands, there was no reason to keep her home.
Apparently…. I did not need to decontaminate my whole house. At six-years-old Franny tends to not lick her Barbies or pee on the floor. Let this serve as a warning to anyone relying on Google’s AI. I recently read that Google’s AI has advised some folks that rocks are part of a healthy diet and gasoline can spice up your otherwise bland pasta dish. At least I just cleaned and did a bunch of laundry. I didn’t poison my family or anything. Fun tidbit, when AI gives you incorrect information it is called an “AI hallucination.” I guess we are meant to think the AI wasn’t wrong per se – it was just tripping.
The final piece of advice Franny’s doctor provided was that Aaron and I need to be careful. Evidently, HFMD can be a lot more painful and destructive when contracted by adults. So, of course, I found bumps on my hands and feet a few days later.