Well I’ve finally gone and done it. I’ve gone and done the thing that I said I’d never ever do. “What??” you ask. “But what have you done!? Have you…

-eaten an entire box of baby cookies by yourself in the dark at 3am?

-called your baby (in a cloying high-pitched voice) “my little boyfriend”?

-marched out of the front door and gotten halfway down the street before realizing that you were still wearing your slippers?

-allowed your son to press his nose up against the television screen for a good 5 minutes before moving him just because it was so damn peaceful?

-*glued your baby to a piece of cardboard?

-watched all 5 and a half seasons of America’s Next Top Model in less than 30 days?

Before I continue the list and become so depressed that I just curl up under this computer table and die, I’ll tell you that the answers to these questions are yes, yes, yes, yes, maaaaybe and… yes. BUT that’s not even what I’m talking about. What I’m talking about is buying a brand new baby seat for my bicycle and a helmet for Nico. When I first moved to Japan and saw all the mothers riding around on their bikes along with their babies, I thought it was crazy and when I became pregant I said that I’d never do it, that is was just too dangerous. This is especially because most of these babies aren’t even wearing helmets and more often than not, the mother also has second child riding along in a another seat, an umbrella up, a cell phone conversation going, etc, etc, etc.

A few weeks ago I changed my mind though and decided that as long as I never rode in traffic (it’s legal to ride on the sidewalk here), and made sure that Nico always wore his helmet, I’d give it a go. As a Japanese friend of mine said to me recently, “When you are with Romans, you must copy them. Or something like that..”