12/23/2016

Hair Crabs

My husband bought hair Crabs from Hokkaido.

Happily, my husband and I have a day off today.

I will be able to spend Christmas Eve with my family.

I am looking forward to having the crabs for Christmas dinner tonight!

With best wishes and Merry Christmas.                                      
 

 
 
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11/20/2016

Ninendo Classic Mini Family Computer

I bought the Nintendo Classic Mini Family Computer for my children.




It was the first time for our family to get a Video game console.

My husband and I were considering what kind of games we should give to our children.

Actually, most of my son's friends already had the Nintendo 3DS, but we didn't want our son to play it because it could make his eyesight get worse.

And we really didn't like to see that kids play it at the restaurant, on the train, at the hospital, at the park eveno though they were with their friends or families.

We thought we could play it together if we got the Nintendo Classic Mini because it includes 30 old games which I enjoyed playing them when I was a kid.

My 7-year-old son was so excited to get the games console and he enjoys playing it every day.

We made a promise that he can play it for 30 minutes on weekdays, for 1 hour on weekends after he finishs doing homework.

He keeps his word, but I have to tell him every time.

"It is the time to stop playing!"

He likes "Super Mario Brothers" and "Kirby's Dream Land".

I loved "Super Mario Brothers" when I was a kid.

I was absorbed in playing it.

Interestingly enough, my 6-year-old daughter never plays it.

She said:

"I don't want to play it. It is scary. I must not be able to play it well. It's fun for me just to watch him playing.


Three of my son's frineds came to our house last week and they were so excited to see the 30 old games and enjoyed playing them very much.

It was interesting that boys who are used to playing 3D games really enjoyed the very old games.

I think it means that it is not so important that the game is the latest.


My son drew Mario's world using MS-paint.




My daughter drew Kirby's Dream Land using MS-paint.




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10/30/2016

Welcome to our house!

The piano for my 6-year-old daughter which we bought last month finally came to our house yesterday!




I have been very busy making room for the piano for a month.

I changed the arrangement of the furniture, disposed what we don't need, tidied three closets up and put kids' toys away.

"Wow! How big! I want to play it!"

My daughter was so glad to see the piano, and she was playing it for a long time.

I was also really happy.

I played it, but it was completely different from playing the Electone.

I don't know how to use the pedals appropriately.

I will practice it with my daughter from now on, it will surely be fun for me and give me great happiness.




In fact, it was my birthday yesterday.

My husband made dinner for us and they celebrated my birthday.



It was one of the happiest days for me this year.


~~~ Notice ~~~

I have been writing this blog for two years to improve my writing skills.

But recently, it is difficult for me to spare my time to write it.

I have been very busy for my work, house chores, looking after my kids.

I hate to say this, but I'm going to stop writing it regularly.

And I will delete the links of other blog sites except Google+.

I would like to spare my time to improve my speaking skills, it hasn't improved yet even though I could pass the exam of Eiken Grade Pre-1.

I am grateful to all of you who came to my blog.

I am sorry for my late replies to the comments, I will surely correct my errors.

I might update it from time to time when I have something to wirte.

Thank you so much!


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10/11/2016

The piano will come to our house

I wrote about the sports day of my 6-year-old daughter's nursery school in my last post :
http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2016/10/teru-teru-bozu.html

After all, it was postpond today even though it didn't rain after we recieved the email which informed us the cancelarion of the sports day at 7:20am.

Maybe teachers weren't able to make a decision of carrying out the sports day because it started raining around 6:45 am last Saturday.

It will be sunny today, so I am looking forward to going to see the sports day.



By the way, I am very busy recently because we finally purchaced the used piano for my daughter.

I wrote in my previous post that I decided that I will let her learn both Electone and piano : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2016/09/piano-trial-lesson.html

She likes practising the Electone and practises playing it for about 30 minutes every day.

She is good at music dictation and modulation.

I want to enhance her motivation and music skills.

I believe that piano lesson will improve her performance skill and increase the interest in music.

The piano will come to our house at the end of October, so I need to make room to install it.

We need to move the Electone to the kids room on the second floor.

I already moved the bookshelf in the living room, and decluttered it last weekend.

I sold old CDs and books at the CD at the ricycle shop.

I still need to screen a lot of things and throw unnecessary things away.

It is a very hard work and I need time to do it, but it is also fun for me.

I am looking forward to coming the piano.

We visited four piano shops and I really liked its sound when I tried to play the piano which we bought.

I also want to practise piano with her and hope that it will be my fun in my rest of life.

I was helping her Electone practise last evening.

My 7-year-old son wanted to play it.

He had also learned playing the Electone until last September, but he quitted it because he didn't pracitse it at all.

He could still play it, but after that, my daughter played same song and he realized that she played it better than him.

He said:

"She has a great music talent than me, but I have a great drawing talent than her! I am going to draw a picture, it's my homework today. It will display at the citizens exhibition."

It was funny for me because he finally admitted that her sister is finally able to play the Electone better than him.

But he always doesn't want to lose to her as her elder brother.

She played the songs called "Pretty Bouquet".

Please try to listen it if you like.



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10/07/2016

Teru teru bouzu

The sports day will be held at my 6-year-old daughter's nursery school today.

But the weather forecast said that it will rain today.

We will have a 60% chance of rain this morning.

When I went to her nursery school to pick her up last evening, I found that a lot of Teru teru bouzu were under eaves.

Teru teru bozu is a small handmade doll made of white paper.

We make it before the important event in the hope that it will be a sunny day.

My children and I prayed together last night.

I explained to my daughter when we watched the weather forecast on TV:

"The low pressure is a possible cause of rain."

Then she put her small hands together and said:

"Hello Mr. low pressure, please come after our sports day finishes."

I thought how adorable she was.

A lot of little kids are looking forward to coming to the sports day and really hoping that it doesn't rain.

If it is postponed, the sports day will be held next Wednesday so that my husband and parents will not be able to come.

Please hold out until the sports day finishes!!




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10/03/2016

My funny children

When I went to the children's house last evening to pick my 7-year-old son up, I found something written on his arm.

"What's that?"

I asked him.

He answered:

"I can't talk with anyone."

"Why did you write it? Maybe I guess your friends asked you to play with them so many times even though you wanted to read comics, and it was bother for you to refuse their offers, right?"

"Exactly!"

He answered.

"It's so you! You are really funny."

I couldn't stop laughing for a while.

I don't worry about his friendship at all because I regard as with his interesting personality.

He is a person who does things at his own pace and wants to give priority to doing his favorite things even if he is alone.

Furthermore, I know he has good friends.



We went to the supermarket to buy some groceries, then went to the nursery school to pick my 6-year-old daughter up.

My son told her:

"Hey! Our mom bought us Giant Caplico today! Let's eat it after we go home!"

My 6-year-old was glad to hear that and said:

"Wow! Hooray! Anyway, what is Caplico?"

I couldn't stop laughing again.

Why was she glad even though she didn't know Caplico?

She was really funny!

"It's a chocolate snack shaped like an ice cream corn."

My son explained it to her.

"Oh, I know! I like it!"



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9/28/2016

A Cardboard house

7-year-old son made a small house using a cardboard last Tuesday.


This is the living room on the first floor.

He made a table, TV, sofa, room light, window, and steps.



This is the second floor.

There are some books in the bookshelf.

My son wrote their titles on each book.

There is a wash room behind the door.

The picture of a flower is hung on the wall.



He was absorbed in making this for a while.

I was really impressed with his detailed work and creativity.


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9/24/2016

Sports day

The sports day was held at my 7-year-old son's elementary school yesterday.

It was a really busy day for me because I had to prepare lunch box for my all of family members and my parents.

I had to work overtime for one hour last Friday because we had a lot of customers, so I finished working at 5pm.

After that, I picked up my son and 6-year-old daughter then went to the supermarket to buy some groceries for lunch boxes.

After we came home, I did laundry, prepared dinner, washed dishes, then prepared some dishes for lunch boxes.

I wanted my children to go to bed by 9pm because they had to wake up by 6:30am next day.

But they were still playing together after 9pm, so I was irritated to see them.

"Look at the clock! It's already 9pm. Will you be able to wake up at 6:30am? It's sports day tomorrow! Go to bed right now!"

I scolded them, then they immediately went to bed.

I woke up at 4am and made the lunch boxes.

I finished making them at 7am.

I was really tired but glad that I finally finished them.

My husband went to his school to get a spot.

He was surprised that more than 100 people were already in line waitnig for the school gate to open.

Some people brought small tents.

When the entrance gate was opened by a teacher, he said:

"Everyone, please don't run! It's dangerous!"

But most of them rushed to get a spot.


My family and parents went to his school at 9am.

It was going to rain soon, so everyone hoped that the weather would hold out until the sports day finished.

Finally, it started raining in the early afternoon.

The teachers decided to postpone the rest of the programs until next Monday.

Children seemed to be disappointed, but we weren't because the teachers had already changed the order of the program efficiently, so the popular programs which parents wanted to see were already finished in the morning.

The happiest thing is that I finished my big task, making the lunch boxes!



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9/22/2016

Happy Birthday by Origami

My 7-year-old son made a birthday cake, a candle, a present, flowers and a vase using Origami last evening.

It wasn't anybody's birthday yesterday.

I asked him:

"Why did you make them?"

He answered:

"I only wanted to make them."

I like his artisan spirit.



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9/18/2016

Piano trial lesson

My 6-year-old daughter took a piano trial lesson last Saturday.

She was surprised to listen to the piano's loud but beautiful sound.

The teacher told us that she will teach her how to read musical scores.

She also said that to be able to read musical scores is similar to being able to speak a foreign language.

I was deeply moved to hear that.

Since my daughter changed her mind and told me that she wants to continue the Electone lessons, I decided that I will let her learn both Electone and piano.

I want her to choose which instrument she wants to continue learning more after a few years.

Piano practice is really effective at improving children's technique of playing Electone.

It costs a lot of money and I know I am a doting mother, but I want to do so.

I have to work more and save money, but I am looking forward to starting the new start piano lessons.




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9/14/2016

Fifth Disease

My 7-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter got fifth disease.

First, my son got it last Saturday.

Then my daughter got it last Tuesday.

Fortunately, they didn't have to be absent from school.

We call fifth disease "Apple disease (りんご病) in Japanese because the cheeks of children who suffer from fifth disease turn red and it looks like an apple.

I thought the differences in how diseases are named is really interesting.



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9/11/2016

The Scream of cucumber

When I prepared breakfast, I found an interesting thing.

I cut a cucumber, then I found the cut end looked like a something famous.


I told my husband:

"Look! Do you think it looks familiar?"

"Oh!"

He immediately understood what I wanted to say, then he started drawing a picture on some white paper.

"This is it!"

We laughed to see his picture.

This is "the Scream" by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, no, it is "The Scream of Cucumber"!



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9/09/2016

The important decision on our lives

My parents came to our house yesterday because they attended "grandparents day" held at my 6-year-old daughter's nursery school.

The grandparents of the eldest students in the nursery school were able to join in the event.

Children played with their grandparents and they entertained them with their songs and a cup of tea.

My daughter and parents were really looking forward to the event.

And I was also waiting for their coming because I wanted to consult with my mother about my new idea.

It is about my daughter's music lesson.

She goes to the YAMAHA's music school once a week.

I had been also the YAMAHA's music school student for 32 years.

I learned how to play the Electone which is an electric organ produced by Yamaha corporation.

I have an Electone called "STAGEA", so I wanted my children to learn how to play it.

But recently, her teacher told us that we need to consider the next class because their children's beginner course will end next April.

In the children's class, they use Electone, but we need to decide which instrument we choose, piano or Electone by the time the next course will start.


I changed my mind that I wanted my daughter to learn how to play the piano.

I love playing the Electone very much, but I have been envy the piano.

There are some reasons why I am envy it.

When we play the Electone, we usually use the pre-imputed sound data.

If we don't have it, we can't play the Electone nicely.

In my point of view, I have a conclusion that playing the piano needs more musical talent and it can be more useful for my daughter's future life in every situations than Electone.

But we have to sell our Electone to buy a piano economically.

It is a tough decision for me because I love my Electone.

My daughter told me that she likes playing Electone and she wants to keep practicing it from now on.

I wasn't able to decide whether I should respect my daughter's thought or I persuade her to change her mind.

In fact, if my daughter would agree with my idea, I also want to start practicing piano with her.

I have always wanted to play the piano.

If I could play the piano with my daughter, it would be surely fun for me.

I told all of my thought to my mother.

She told me:

"I can find the answer just by looking at you. You want to try it, right? Give it a try! You already found the answer through 32 years. Your daughter likes playing the piano, right? When we went to the appliance store, she was playing the electric piano all the time while we were at the store. I am sure that she will like the piano."

I felt like I was able to see the blue sky behind the dark cloud.

I was worried that my mother might misunderstood that I regretted that I had learned how to play the Electone.

Actually, I don't regret it, I rather appreciate my mother that she made me go the Electone lessons.

I didn't have to worry about it.

My mother understood my thoughts well and she pushed me to make a decision.

Whenever I couldn't make important decisions, she always got my number.

My mother also praised my daughter a lot:

"You can play the Electone very well! But I am sure that you will be a good piano player. You always go to the electric piano department and try playing it, right? I am sure you like it!"

After my parents came home, I asked my daughter:

"Do you want to play the piano?"

"Yes! I want to try it."

She answered.

I was surprised to hear that and asked her again:

"Really? Did you change your mind? Do you allow me to sell our Electone?"

"I feel lonely, but OK. I am looking forward to practising the piano."

"All right! If you start going to the piano school, I also want to start practisig the piano. Let's do our best together! I want to practise it forever."

I told her.

"Yeah, me too!"

She smiled at me.

My husband agreed with me.

I worried that we need money to buy a new piano and pay the lesson fee for the piano school.

He said:

"You don't worry about it. We can solve it to work harder. You think it is good for our daugher's future, right? "

I am really happy and appreciate my mother and him to understand my idea.

I really look forward to our new try and hope that it would become our best decision of our lives.




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9/07/2016

Where has the typhoon gone?

I received the email from my 7-year-old son's elementary school yesterday morning.

It said that they won't prepare school lunch today (Thursday) and parents have to prepare their lunch
because school might be closed due to the approaching the typhoon.

But, when I went to my 6-year-old daughter's nursery school to pick her up, her teacher told me that they would prepare school lunch tomorrow.

I thought it was strange that the correspondence about school lunches was different in the elementary school and the nursery school even though both of them are managed by our city.

Actually, the scale of the typhoon was small, and it was already downgraded to a extratropical cyclone at 3am today.

Unless the storm warning is in effect for our city, school isn't closed.

I have to prepare my son's lunch today.

I understand that the teachers at his school just played it safe, but it was just troublesome to me.



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9/05/2016

I highly recommend this Yoga app

I wrote about Yoga in my past post : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/search?q=yoga

I like doing Yoga very much.

Before I wrote that I bought the Yoga DVD and tried it.

It was for about 21 minutes.

The contents were really good, but 21 minutes was a little long for me, so I couldn't keep doing it.

I didn't exercise at all for a while.

But when I was suffering from the epidemic conjunctivitis, I realized that I need to exercise to stay fit.

I found the Yoga app called "Yoga studio" on internet.

The reputation of the app was quite good, so I bought it for my iPad for 450 yen even though I rarely paid app.

I will get straight to the point, it was really excellent and I highly recommend the Yoga studio.


1. It provides a lot of classes and I can download my favorite classes.

2. It includes a lot of short time classes, so I can keep doing it without difficulty.

3. It tracks my class history, it encourages me a lot.



4. The narration is spoken only in English, so it is good listening practice for me.


Even I could continue using it every day for 2 weeks.

I would like to keep doing it to stay fit and reduce my stress.


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9/02/2016

Children's melancholy in the new semester

The new semester of my 7-year-old son's elementary school began on September 1.

When he left home yesterday mornig, he said:

"Oh, I'm so nervous to go to school."

I was surprised to hear that and asked him:

"Why are you so nervous? Do you have something special events today?"

"No, I only haven't got used to going to school yet. Bye mom!"

"See you."

I said to him.

I had forgot the feeling which children have at the beginning of the new semester.

After he came home, I asked him:

"How was school?"

"It was fun!"

He answered.

In fact, one of my friend told me yesterday that her daughter hasn't gone to school since September 1.

She said her daughter hadn't been able to talk her classmates at all because she had troubles with her classmate 4 years ago.

She had put up with going to school for 4 years, but finally, she refused to go to school from September.

My friend is worried about her very much and I feel sorry to hear that, but I could only listen to her story.

She said there are only few facilities where they accept children who don't want to go to school.

A lot of children who were got hurt start refusing to attend school from September.

In the worst case, some children choose suicide before the new semester begins.

I really hope my frined will be able to find the best way for her daughter with her.




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9/01/2016

My 7-year-old son's masterpiece ~ GeGeGe no Kitaro~

My 7-year-old son drew a picture of GeGeGe no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎) at the children's house yesterday.

GeGeGe no Kitaro is the famous and popular manga written by Shigeru Mizuki.

It is old and I also liked watching the anime when I was a child.

My children love it TV very much.

He showed his drawings to me proudly.

"Look! They are Kitaro and Ittanmomen (一反木綿 / いったんもめん)."


He cut each of them and made them to be able to connect.

This Kitaro is made to be able to attack his enemy by one of his special moves called "Kaminokebari (髪の毛針)".



 I was impressed with his idea.

I want him to try drawing and making something like this.

I believe creating something will grow children's creativity and imagination.


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8/31/2016

The last day of his summer vacation

It was the last day of my 7-year-old son's summer vacation yesterday.

He finally finished his homework in the morning.

He also studied math.

I decided that I let him do what he wanted to do.

After finishing study, he played games using my iPad.

I asked him:

"What do you want to eat for lunch?"

"I want to eat Ramen!"

We went to his most favorite ramen restaurant.

We enjoyed eating ramen very much.

 
He ate kid's lunch.



After lunch, we came home and watched the movie of Harry Potter.

After that, he said:

"I want to go to catch insects!"

We went to the shrine and the park near our house and he caught a dragonfly.

It was a windy but comfortable day.

My 6-year-old dauhgter will enter the elementary school next year, so it was the last day which we spend a day only with my son and me.

I always feel lonely when the last day of the summer vacation.

I will recall today which we enjoyed together after he grow up.


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8/30/2016

Expensive sweet mango made in Japan

My husband sent grapes as a summer gift to his cousin about two weeks ago.

Grape is famous specialty goods of our neighbor city.

We received a summer gift from them yesterday.

It was mango!




Mango made in Japan is very popular but very expensive in Japan.

I have never bought it ever before because it is too expensive.

I emailed my husband about the gift.

He told me this morning that he promised his colleagues that he would bring mango and eat it with them.

"No way! I want to try it, too!"

I complained to him.

"I will bring only one, so let's try it for breakfast."

He said and cut them.


"Wow! How sweet!"

It was really nice.

Our children don't like mango, so they didn't try it.

My husband and I were able to enjoy eating them very much.


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Launching a rocket

My 7-year-old son made a rocket which they launched into space at the children's house yesterday.

He said all children made a rocket with paper cups first, then he thought he wanted to make a rocket which was more cool and looked more real.

When I went to the children's house to pick him up last evening, the teacher praised him saying:

"Wow! You made an amazing rocket! You are really good at making thing."

He broke into a sheepish grin to hear that.

I thought he remembered that we visited Uchinoura Space Center last December and saw the launch pad of the rocket.

I always look forward to see what kind of works he will make next.


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8/28/2016

Handmade Planetarium

My 7-year-old son and I finally recovered from epidemic conjunctivitis!

My son and husband went to the rental video shop Saturaday's afternoon to return DVDs which my husband rent a week ago.

They bought a craft kit of planetarium at the bookstore next to the rental video shop.

My son was absorbed in assembling it and my husband helped him.

Three hours later, they finished making it.

They closed the shutters in the Japanese room and my son said:

"Come on and look at this mom!"

My 6-year-old daughter and I went there, then he turned on the light of the planetarium.

The starry sky suddenly appeared in the entire room.

"Wow! How beautiful!"

We lay down on tatami and watched the stars going slowly.

We weren't able to go out after my son and I were suffered from  epidemic conjunctivitis.

But we enjoyed staying home.

It was also valuable time for me.


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8/26/2016

Nice dress!

My mother came to our house yesterday to take care of my 7-year-old son because he has not recovered from the epidemic conjunctivitis and was not allowed to go to the children's house.

When I came home from work, my mother said:

"Something was delivered. It has written on it "building blocks", so your son was looking forward to opening the box."

"Building blocks? I haven't ordered it."

I was surprised to hear this.

I looked at the address of the package and said:

"Oh! I understand. It has written on it cloths, neckless, building blocks, shoes. It was only the category of the courier company. It was my daughter's dress for her Electone recital which will be held in October. I ordered it online and she has been looking forward to its arrival. Hey! Your dress has arrived already! Come on!"

"Really? Where is it?"

My 6-year-old daughter was surprised to hear this and came to me.

"Here. I am opening it. Wow! Look! It's really nice!"

I bought a green dress, sliver shoes and white polka dot tights.

"Wow! How nice! I want to try them and show grandma!"

She was excited and started changing her cloths.

"How am I?"

She told us gladly but a little shyly.

"Wow! You are so sweet! That dress looks good on you!"

My mother praised her.

Next to my daughter, my son was watching TV and he wasn't interested in her dress at all.

It was funny but boys are usually like this.

"I want to play the Electone! I want grandma to listen to my performance!"

She started playing the ensemble song which she will play in the recital.

She was able to play it without mistakes.

"Oh, I am looking forward to the recital!"

I was impressed with the effect of the dress.

Actually, it had been already decided which dress the girls will wear at the recital by the teachers and I only ordered them.

It was cheap but very nice.

I thought the teachers know well which kind of dresses little girls are glad to wear.


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8/23/2016

I want to take a bath with mom!

I wrote that my son and I have been suffering from epidemic conjunctivitis since last week.

We haven't recovered from it yet.

I especially had more serious symptoms than my 7-year-old son, I had swelling of the lymph nodes.

After going to my parent's house, my symptoms got worse.

My right eye was also infected with epidemic conjunctivitis and the swelling of the lymph nodes got worse.

I went to see a physician and he prescribed me some antibiotics.

After taking them, I started getting better.

Since I have been absent from work since last Thursday, I finally will go to work tomorrow.
I realized that to keep fit is really important.

I know I have a lack of exercise.

It is difficult to make time to exercise since I work, do housework, and take care of children, but I need to do it to keep fit.

Actually, my motivation of learning English had declined while I was feeling under weather.

To keep healthy is necessary to realize what we want to do.

Since we haven't recovered yet, my son and I can't take a bath with my husband and 6-year-old daughter to prevent infecting them  with epidemic conjunctivitis.

My husband had been on his summer vacation since last Sunday, but now he comes home late as usual.

It means that my daughter has to take a bath alone on weekdays.

"Do I have to take a bath alone?"

She asked me sadly.

"Yes. It is to prevent infection. If you infected, you also have to be absent from the nursery school for 2 weeks. You don't want to do that, do you?"

"Yeah, but it's scary to take a bath alone! I want to take a bath with mom!"

I wondered when on earth my children will be able to take a bath alone.

"OK. I will be at the wash room while you're taking bath. You can leave the door open, so you can see me. You will not be scared, right?"

I suggested this to her and she accepted my idea.

I told my children:

"You will want to take a bath alone when you turn 10 years old. It's normal."

"No! I love mom, so I want to take a bath with you forever."

My daughter said, she was almost in tears.

I laughed when I heard this.

I want my children to be independent, but I also feel that I will be lonely when they grow up.

It depends on each family, but many Japanese parents and children take a bath together.

In my case, I had taken a bath with my mother up until I was 12, but I didn't care that she sometimes took a bath with me.

Maybe it is quite different from other countries.

But I like the custom because taking a bath makes us relax, and the effect of it increases when I take a bath with my family.

I think it is one of the most relaxing times with my family.




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8/20/2016

Fireworks display

Since my 7-year-old son's fever went down, my family visited my parents' house yesterday evening because the fireworks display was held near their house.

We were looking forward to it, but my son and I haven't recovered from epidemic conjunctivitis.

We were going to stay overnight there at first, but we decided not to stay overnight and go home after finishing watching the fireworks display.

We watched fireworks with my parents and my sister.

It was amazing!

You can hear that children who were sitting near us were so excited and shouted with joy in the video below.



I recall my memory of 10 years ago when I watched the firework display every summer.

It was about my father.

In August of ten years ago, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer by a doctor and he had to undergo the surgery.

Since he really wanted to watch the fireworks display, he applied for approval to sleepover at home to his doctor.

My father and mother were watching fireworks together without speaking.

I could see their long history as a couples and parents for me and my sister from their backs.

They must have hoped that they wanted to watch the fireworks display next year again.

If someone is sick, we will not able to enjoy it.

The fireworks display is a symbol of our family's happiness.

I do hope we will be able to watch it next year with all of my family members.


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8/19/2016

Homemade Korokke (croquettes) by my husband and daughter

I wrote that my 7-year-old son and I were diagnosed with epidemic conjunctivitis.

I also have a general malaise even though I don't have a fever and my son had a fever at first, but it had already gone down.

Since my husband is on his summer vacation until tomorrow, he helped me a lot.

He takes our 6-year-old daughter to the nursery school, picks her up from there, goes shopping, and sometimes prepares meals for us instead of me.

I do laundry, prepare breakfast, and clean rooms as usual, but I soon get tired.

When I feel tired, I take a nap.

He takes care of our children while I sleep.

I am really thankful of him.


He harvested potatoes from our garden yesterday afternoon and started making Korokke for dinner.

After he picked up our daughter from the nursery school, he asked her to help him.

Since she likes helping us very much, she was willing to help him.

I know to make Korokke takes a long time, as I expected, they didn't finish it until 6pm though they started at 4pm.

I also helped them, made bread crumbs, put a lot of used plates away, washed them and made room for making Korokke.

My daughter enjoyed the procedures, made balls with mashed potatoes, coated them in flour, dipped them into egg, and dipped them in the bread crumbs to coat all sides.

Then my husband deep fried them in oil.

"Have a taste!"

My husband told me.

I tasted it:

"It tastes great! Oh? It doesn't have any taste. Did you put salt and pepper into it?"

I asked him.

"Oh-oh! I forgot it!"

He said.

"No problem. It is good enough. We can season it by ourselves. Freshly fried Korokke is really fantastic!"

I told my husband and daughter.

The Korokke they made was really nice, so I ate them too many of them.

I was really happy that they prepared dinner instead of me.

I appreciate their kindness.



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8/17/2016

Epidemic Conjunctivitis

My right eye has suffered from conjunctivitis since last Saturday.

It was no so terrible at first, but it gradually got worse.

My son's left eye has also suffered from conjunctivitis since last Sunday.

He also has a slight fever now.

We went to see the eye doctor.

The tests we took were positive, and we were diagnosed with epidemic conjunctivitis.

Since I have terrible eye mucus, it is hard to open my right eye in the morning.

I also have a general malaise and a slight head ache.

Since children with epidemic conjunctivitis must not go to school and children's house by the rules of School Health Law, he can't go to children's house until the end of August.

Regarding adults, we don't have any rules whether those who are suffering from epidemic conjunctivitis can work or not.

It depends on the company.

I called our leader and asked her if I can come to work tomorrow even though I have epidemic conjunctivitis or take a day off tomorrow.

She will ask our owner whether I can go to work.

I do hope we will recover from it as soon as possible.



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8/14/2016

Obon

We visited my parents' house during Obon.

We visited my parents' ancestor's graves, had dinner with my parents and my sister's family, then enjoyed playing with sparklers.

My 7-year-old son likes playing Donjara (picture matching game), so we enjoyed playing it.

(I wrote about Donjara in my past post : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/search?q=donjara )

My son was so excited because he won the game at first.

Our family stayed overnight there.


The next day(yesterday), my 6-year-old daughter wanted to try the Japanese tea ceremony.

My mother has a set of implements used for serving tea, and she served tea (Matcha) for us when we visited my parents' house during the New Year's vacation.

My daughter remembered it.

My mother's friend is a teacher of Sado (Japanese tea ceremony) and she goes to the kindergarten to teach how to serve tea for children.

My mother goes there with her and helps her to teach them.



First, scoop tea from the tea caddy with chashaku (a small spoon made of bamboo) and put it into the tea bowl.




Then, mix the powered tea quickly using the chasen (tea whisk) with hot water.




Let's have a lovely tea time!


Actually, I am not familiar with the way of tea ceremony, but my mother praised her.

"You did a great job though you are still very young! I know how children who are the same age as you serve tea, they usually can't do it like you."

She was glad to hear that and served tea for all of us.

I thought my mother is really good at praising people.

I want to learn how to praise children from her.



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