Tag: anton

What Did You Do This Weekend? | Cup of Jo

How was your weekend? We celebrated my birthday with a few fun things, including an eggy breakfast and lanky teenagers…

First, I woke up early and met my friend at Head in the Clouds, a woman-owned Brooklyn spa where they give you tea and cookies, and massage your face and shoulders, and wash and dry your hair, and by the end, you’re basically in a dream state. Have you ever had a head massage? Such a treat.

Then we walked over to Diner for eggs and mimosas, where we spotted a few cute toddlers in enormous winter snowsuits, which felt like a birthday gift in itself, haha.

Afterward, I went home and treated myself to a lazy afternoon on the sofa reading Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy (of I’m Glad My Mom Died fame). The novel follows a high schooler living in a trailer park who sleeps with her married English teacher. My first thought was that the last thing in the world I wanted to read about right now was an affair between a mediocre older man and a bright young woman — but the book is actually extremely smart and vulnerable and raw and revelatory and, of course, about much more than their affair. Pandora Sykes pointed this out in her recent newsletter, as well: “Was I up for yet another story about pathetic old professors and world-weary teenage students? Apparently, in the right hands, yes.”

Then, at 4 p.m., my doorbell rang. When I opened the door — surprise! — my friend’s daughter walked in with a GIANT bundle of balloons. After her followed her brother with another GIANT bundle. Behind him, another brother…and so on, until the room was filled with balloons, and my friend’s family started singing “happy birthday,” and we were all laughing hysterically. Their delivery reminded me of a quote from the book The Power of Moments: “beware the soul-sucking force of reasonableness.” Yes! It was an elite drop by.

That evening, a few more friends, plus Toby and Anton, gathered for ice cream sundaes and funny conversations. It was such a lovely day, and even though I’m the only adult in our house, I feel like we have such a big family around us. Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes! What were you up to this weekend?

Through it all, of course, Minnesota and the state of the country is always on our minds. Here are ways to help and a food pantry that makes deliveries.

P.S. 12 readers share their favorite birthday celebrations, and what’s the most helpful thing a therapist ever told you?

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Joanna Goddard

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February 2, 2026
Happy New Year! | Cup of Jo

Hello! How are you? I missed this funny, smart community, and I’m excited to catch up. We have some fun posts planned this month, and in the meantime, here are a few snapshots from the break, if you’d like to see…

We hosted Christmas in Brooklyn this year — with the boys and me, of course, plus my dad, my aunt Lulu, and our cousin Jimmy. We lit a lot of candles and ate a lot of yummy things. (“I’m low-key addicted to mandarins,” Toby told me.)

Our first adventure for the holidays is always driving to see the lights in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Can you imagine moving there in the summer and suddenly realizing what a Christmas scene it becomes? People sell hot chocolate out of their garages, and Bing Crosby blasts from car radios.

When our relatives arrived from England, we were so excited!

Jimmy and Anton were already twinning without planning it…

And Lulu immediately set about making carrot soup. The more things change, the more they stay the same. xoxo

We took walks to the Brooklyn Promenade…

..and stopped by Jane’s Carousel and the nearby ice-skating rink…

…and admired the views from The Edge in Manhattan.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church and ate lots of stinky cheese.

By the way, how cool is this olive tray? It was my Christmas gift to myself 🙂 I can’t remember the substack design newsletter where I originally discovered it, but I’ll let you know if I find it!

On Christmas morning, the boys opened their stockings. Here’s 12-year-old Anton’s haul. I loved how his wishlist reflected his in-between age — with items like a scented-pen (kid) and pimple patches (teenager).

Plus, of course, a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper.

We had a gathering on Christmas Day, since, I find, kids are usually jittery from all the excitement by the afternoon, and it’s nice to have friends over to soak up that energy.

Also, although long-time readers may find it hard to believe, I’ve actually been enjoying cooking. One crowd-pleasing dinner for the group was this easy cheesy beans dish. I added more onion for crunch and more crushed red pepper for heat.

The Kalanithi parents; lunch at Hook Fish.

Afterward, my dad and I headed to San Francisco to see my sister, her daughter, and her in-laws.

We crashed at my friend Lena’s beautiful home, since she and her family were out of town. (They’re going to stay at our place in the summer, like a non-simultaneous house swap.) And that cool word art? “When my son Eli was learning handwriting, he started making large letters on single sheets of construction paper,” she explains. “I took my favorites and tiled them in a huge plexiglass frame I bought off Craigslist.”

As always, on New Year’s Eve, we visited Paul’s grave. We poured out Champagne for him, and the kids toasted with Martinelli’s.

Hope you had a good break and got some rest and relaxation! And if not, that’s okay, too. As they say, everyone you meet is fighting a battle. Lots of love, as always, and looking forward to a wonderful 2026 together. xoxo

P.S. 11 readers share their happy moments, and what are you grateful for, large or small?

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Joanna Goddard

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January 5, 2026
The #1 Trick to Enjoying Family Travel | Cup of Jo

As we head into the holidays, I wanted to reshare this 2023 post about family travel; and if you’d like more, Toby also shared his own tips for surviving family trips and here’s my personal trick for enjoying big family gatherings. Good luck out there! Xoxo

After 13 years of family travel, I finally figured out the key to having fun (or at least how to put it into words): Expect some rough times.

The point of travel is that the highs can be high. But, especially with family travel, the lows can also be hilariously low, right? A few things will always go wrong: your flight will be delayed. Or you’ll get a bad headache. Or the weather will be rainy. Or your kids will wake up at 2 a.m. Or you’ll find a hair in your salad. And, honestly, that’s to be expected, right? Travel is still regular life, and tricky stuff isn’t a disaster, it’s just normal.

Case in point: This past weekend, the boys and I drove up to Connecticut to visit old friends. We ate chicken sandwiches and played ping pong. We floated on our backs in the pool. We watched Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. We drank cold white wine from those small Italian glasses. A dozen different times, I thought to myself, “This is what life is all about.”

But, at the same time, not everything was idyllic: the boys argued during the three-hour drive. I got misophonic and told them to be quiet or I would turn-this-car-around-so-help-me-god. Our Airbnb had big spiders in the bathroom. We lost our basketball in some thorny bushes. The route home had lots of traffic.

Bottom line: Parts of the trip were annoying, parts were epic. Both things can be true!

Here are a few travel snapshots through the years…

Yawning through the glorious Laguna Gloria in Austin.

Getting a “Plus Four” card during an Uno game in San Diego.

Not feeling the beach in San Francisco.

Tired of walking in Italy.

Hangry in England.

Too hot in Florida.

Heading onto a 10-hour flight.

The other day, my friend Andy recapped a family trip with a sentence that could describe all family travel: “It was bad and then it was great.”

Plus, two legendary posts that always make me laugh:
* Vacation or Trip? A Helpful Guide for Parents
* Mom Spends Beach Vacation Assuming All Household Duties In Closer Proximity To Ocean

What about you? What hilariously bummery things have happened on trips? Have you ever had a trip that just all-out sucked? That can happen, too! We’re aiming for wholeness, after all.

P.S. An ode to bad family vacations, and the weirdest best part of trips.

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Joanna Goddard

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December 22, 2025
Toby and Anton in Conversation | Cup of Jo

Toby, 15, and Anton, 12, make me laugh 100 times a day. Ever since they learned to talk, they’ve been surprising me with their hot takes and hilarious slang. Here are a few things they — and their friends — have busted out with lately…

Anton, to me at the grocery store: “Bro, this is tomato juice and clam broth. It’s like, uhhh, thanks for the opportunity.”

Anton: “This kinetic sand smells so bad.”
Friend: “Omg you know what it smells like?”
Anton: “What?”
Friend: “Something really bad.”

Friend: “School lunch is so bad.”
Toby: “The worst.”
His friend: “It will just be a yellow blob. Is it meat? Is it potatoes? Like, I need to know the CATEGORY.”

A text to my parents, above.

Anton, while studying myths: “Greek myths are like, we ate dinner and we did something bad. We ate dinner again and we did something baaaaaaadddd.”

Anton, from the bathroom: “I’m doing the best hand wash ever!”
Me: “What makes it great?”
Anton: “It’s just tuff.”

Anton styling Toby at a store. My heart.

My little friend showing me her funny face.

At our block party this weekend, a teenage girl told me she was trying to wear roller skates for 24 hours. “Is it a kind of fundraiser?” I asked her. “No, just a personal challenge,” she said. She had 14 hours left and, although her feet hurt, she felt confident she’d make it: “I basically just have to sleep in them and I’m done.”

Toby, after babysitting for two hours: “Mom, you have no idea how exhausting taking care of kids is.”
Me: “Yeah……totally.”

What cute or funny things have the kids in your life said or done lately? And what kinds of things enchant them?

P.S. More kids in conversation, and how to talk to kids about sex, periods, death, consent and everything else.

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Joanna Goddard

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September 22, 2025
An Epic Week in NYC With Preteens | Cup of Jo

This past week, Anton’s 13-year-old second cousin, Jimmy, came from England to visit Brooklyn. It was Jimmy’s first time in the U.S., and we were all beyond excited. This morning, Anton and I were reminiscing, and we thought we’d share photos…

Jimmy lives in a small seaside town in England, and Anton told me: “We were joking around, like, ‘Do you have cars in England? Do you have scooters in England? Do you have light in England? Do you have color in England?’ It was really funny. And sometimes when Jimmy would make a joke, we would be like, ‘Is that funny in England?’ But his jokes were actually really funny.”

Jimmy asked to see a few sights, and we were happy to oblige. “Can we go to the Louis Vuitton store that looks like suitcases?” he asked. I didn’t even know this existed, but when we headed to 57th Street, there it was!

We took him to the American Museum of Natural History, one of our long-time favorite places…

…and to see Times Square at night, where Jimmy did a back flip for a crowd. “He taught himself to do flips in his backyard when he was six,” Anton told me. “He just fully went for it because he didn’t know the consequences were that he could get his neck snapped!”

The boys also begged me to take them to the Chelsea Piers driving range. They hit balls while I did the New Yorker crossword puzzle. “Jimmy told me he wants to ride in a yellow school bus,” Anton told me. “He’s never done that.”

We also just mucked around at home…

…and in the neighborhood. “When we were walking down the street, Jimmy was like, ‘Look at that, look at that,’ because there were so many different kinds of foods — Japanese, Lebanese, Thai, Italian, Vietnamese, French, Chinese, Indian, Ethiopian…” said Anton. “He also loved 16 Handles.”

At the end of the week, Toby and my mom joined us, and we went to a neighborhood café for coffee and magic tricks with cards. Jimmy showed us some cool ones, and I busted out my old favorite.

Finally, on Sunday, my brother and Jimmy headed back to England, and, honestly, we all felt really sad. It’s hard to live an ocean away from loved ones, as I’m sure many of you experience, as well. But we’re so lucky to be able to keep in touch. When my maternal grandmother moved from Manchester, England, to Chicago with her new soldier husband, she could only exchange letters with her parents, until they visited many years later. Where do your relatives live? Are you close by? Half a world apart? How do you stay in touch? I’d love to hear. I know there are pros and cons to every arrangement. xoxo

P.S. Holy smokes, I’ve lived in NYC for 20+ years, and six NYC itineraries for kids.

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Joanna Goddard

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September 2, 2025
We Have Two Beloved Visitors in Brooklyn This Week | Cup of Jo

Last night, Anton and I sat on the stoop waiting impatiently for our guests to arrive…

…until my brother Nick and my cousin’s son Jimmy (aka Anton’s second cousin) arrived from England to spend a week with us in Brooklyn. It’s Jimmy’s first time in the U.S., and when I asked him what he’d like to do — ride the Cyclone at Coney Island? see the view from the Empire State Building? — he asked me, earnestly, “Do you guys have Dunkin’ Donuts?” We do, Jimmy, we do.

What a fun assignment to think about how to show a 13-year-old around NYC — what are the fun activities specifically for preteens? Last night, we ordered pizza and rode bikes and scooters along the river to the Brooklyn Bridge, while the sun set — or, as Jimmy said, whilst the sun set. My brother also cemented his “fun uncle” status by doing wheelies and riding down stairs.

This morning, poor Jimmy woke up at 5 a.m. (jet lag!) but waited patiently until we all roused a few hours later. Then we walked to get bagels and took goofy photos. Next up: shopping for “trainers” and going to the Yankees game. (Toby’s visiting my mom right now, but they come back to New York on Friday for an even bigger reunion.)

Plus, a flashback:

Jimmy and Anton in Cornwall (ages of the cousins, from left to right: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!). They’ve been mischievous soulmates since day one.

On Anton’s sixth birthday, and Jimmy was seven.

This summer, when Anton turned 12 and Jimmy was 13.

We always love having visitors, especially these two! What about you? What do you show people from your hometown? Also, would you like an updated Cup of Jo NYC guide, maybe one for kids, one for teens, and one for adults?

P.S. Our Brooklyn house tour, and all our past England trips, including my aunt’s house tour.

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Joanna Goddard

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August 26, 2025