Miru Archives - Meandering home

Time with my daughter

I pressed her baby toes against my lips it was the same time as the ultrasound now, is the time that I can't tie her hair before she goes to kindergarten now, is the time I climb a mountain with her and teach her how to swim now, is the time a woman will smile ...

2 April, 2018

Kamiel Choi

Miru, nostalgia, time

Poetry

What is context?

I asked Miru what 배 'bae' and 눈 'nun' means. She says 'pear' and 'snow'. But in Korean, bae also means boat and nun also means eye. I tell her that it depends on the context. Context is the concept I want to explain to her today. "Papa what is that, context?" -"Context is a ...

23 February, 2018

Kamiel Choi

concept, context, education, language, Miru

Miru, The good life

Math

Dear Miru, Your calculating is improving and you actually like it. We play with numbers together. Two times ten is twenty. Six plus five is eleven. Ten minus 2 equals eight. It is all very playful. You learn how to figure out calculations by making drawings of dots, lines, squares on the whiteboard. You don't ...

9 December, 2017

Kamiel Choi

calculating, math, Miru

Laughs, Miru, The good life

Learning fun: Odd one out

Dear Miru, Everyday you are a little bit smarter. I try to catch up with you and come up with a suitable game. Today, I play 'The odd one out' with you. I mention four items and you tell me which one doesn't belong in the list and why. You are good at it! We ...

23 November, 2017

Kamiel Choi

game, Miru, odd, reasoning, series

Miru, The good life

Bilingual child’s creative translation

Today, like most days, my four years old daughter Miru sang a song in kindergarten. When I asked her to sing it to me after I picked her up and she was enjoying an ice slushy that colored her tongue orange, she rendered a perfect translation in Dutch. Good, the song consisted of three distinct ...

4 July, 2017

Kamiel Choi

bilingualism, creative, kindergarten, Miru, song, translation

Miru, The good life

Learning by improv theatre

17 April, 2017

Kamiel Choi

critical, education, father, learning, Miru, Theatre

Miru, The good life

Predictability

Dear Miru,

25 June, 2016

Kamiel Choi

Miru

Miru, The good life

An imaginary piece of her candy

It is getting sweeter. Unbearably sweet. I go to the park with Miru to let her play on the swing and drink water from the fountain while I lie in the grass with an electronic book. There are always many children there to play with her. There is no lack here. This should be anyone's ...

28 May, 2015

Kamiel Choi

candy, heaven, Miru, working

Miru

She holds the spoon

Today, I took Miru out for a walk through the park and the few blocks I wanted to discover today. She strolled casually next to me on the sidewalk (and less casually when we went downhill). The part of Lisbon we explored is made for cars, and so I had the opportunity to teach her ...

22 April, 2015

Kamiel Choi

computer addiction, eating, Lisbon, Miru, walk

Miru, The good life

A Digital Genius

We live with a digital genius of 011001 months old. When any object with keys or buttons is within her reach, it's hers and all the buttons get pressed in an order that to me, her father still with one foot in the analog age, appears as random. Her fingers fly over the keypads from ...

28 January, 2015

Kamiel Choi

apathy, Behavioural sciences, digital age, distraction, Miru, pedagogics, smartphone, toddler, toys

Miru

Bed time

[series-miru] Miru normally falls asleep when her mother lies next to her and hums soft and soothing melodies into her pillow while tapping her gently until her cries turn into sobs and then silence. I admire my wife's skills and patience. And I envy it: Isn't it something unique between mothers and their children, a ...

15 October, 2013

Kamiel Choi

feminism, imitate, laughing, Miru, role-play, roles, sleeping

Miru

Applause

[series-miru] Miru is now clapping her hands. At almost nine months, she is a very happy baby, and the occasional bouts of crying are interspersed with laughter and endless joy - for her as well as for her parents. She's a perfect baby, and if you a) don't believe me and b) read Korean, rising. ...

28 September, 2013

Kamiel Choi

Applause, future generations, Human behavior, imitate, laughing, Miru, parenting, permaculture, responsibility, strip mining

Activism, Miru

Missing Miru

[series-miru] For a variety of reasons that I had instantly forgotten when looking at a smiling Miru, I had decided to travel. Looking for new clients, exploring new countries, visiting friends, making use of stopovers on a journey to Europe - all are equally valid and ridiculous reasons to miss the baby for a few ...

25 May, 2013

Kamiel Choi

Miru, missing

Miru

Cries and Music

This is part of a series of blog posts that is inspired by our baby daughter,

21 February, 2013

Kamiel Choi

baby, Beethoven, calming, consoling, Crying, Miru, Mozart, singing, soothing

Miru, Philosophy

Awaiting Binary Communication

This is part of a series of blog posts that is inspired by our baby daughter,

17 February, 2013

Kamiel Choi

Crying, Diaper, Ethology, Hominina, Infancy, Infant, mind, Miru

Miru, Philosophy

Naming Miru

It is our invitation to the cultured realm of existence: giving her a name. It is the first "act" and symbolic gift we bestow upon her. Naming has played an important role in every religion, and newborns have almost always been named after something or someone. Naming preserved a lineage, honored the founding elders on ...

12 January, 2013

Kamiel Choi

association, baby girl names, baby names, goddess, lineage, meaning, Miru, Naming, Polynesia, symbolic

Miru