Kindly Mr. Kaguchi took us to his hometown festival—and almost killed us!

A middle-aged man sidles up to me and orders an Appletini. He is wearing a black turtleneck, a dead giveaway, in retrospect.

Living in Paris with three kids and only one income, we burned through money like a chimp with a flamethrower.

This week I spent several days with good friends in Nashville, Tennessee. They're managing every day to raise an almost two-year-old, run...