Heart warming stories

Since my 7-year-old son is in spring vacation now and I had a day off yesterday, we went to the aquarium yesterday.

I like aquariums very much because looking at sea animals makes me feel relaxed.

My children also like sea animals.

We enjoyed feeding sea tutles and piranhas.

It was the first time for us to feed piranhas!

My son suddenly said when we were walking:

"Look! That is like my dad who has a day off!"

I looked at the place which he pointed at, there was a big Steller sea lion sleeping.

Women who were watching the Steller sea lion near my son heard what he said and laughed at him.

I was a little embarrassed.


We enjoyed watching sea animals very much.

Spotted garden eels were very interesting!

I wondered why they were facing in the same direction.

The dolphin show was amazing!

The dolphins seemed to enjoy showing their jump.

Feeding fishes by the staff were very interesting and fantastic.

Furthermore, something good happened to us yesterday.

I bought three soft ice creams for my children and me at the light meal store.

I was carrying two bags and a small ballon which my 5-year-old daughter got at that time.

The young store clerk made the first soft ice cream and handed it to me.

Since I had to recieve the other two, I was going to hand the first one to my son.

I turned around, he was not there.

"Where is he?"

I asked to my daughter.

"He went to the suvenior shop."

She answered.

"What?? Oh my goodness! Anyway, can you hold the soft ice cream for a scond? Please be careful. Don't drop it!"

I asked her and handed it to her.

Then I recieved the second one and turned around to her, she said:

"I have dropped it..."

She almost started crying.

"Oh my goodness! I told you to be careful! Oh my goodness! What am I going to do?"

There was a long line after us.

I picked up the dropped soft ice cream, but my hands were already full and I couldn't do any more.

Suddenly the woman waiting after us told me:

"Would you like me to hold those? You should ask the store to dispose of the dropped one."

"Oh, thank you!"

Another woman near us started cleaning the dirty part of the ground with her tissures.

"Oh, I am sorry. Thank you, Thank you very much!"

I told her.

Since my son came back, I asked him to hold the ballon and soft ice creams.

"What happened?"

He asked me.

"She dropped a soft ice cream and they are helping for me. Don't go somewhere without telling me!"

I told him.

Then the store clerk told me:

"This is the new soft ice cream. Here you are."

"Really? May I have it? Oh, thank you. Thank you so much!"

Thanks to their help, we could solve the trouble.

I was really touched by their kindness.

I told my children:

"If we find someone in trouble, we will try to help them."

They said:

"Of course!"


After we got out ouf the entrance gate of the aquarium and got into my car, I noticed my daughter didn't hold her water bottle.

I asked her:

"Where is your water bottle?"

She answered:

"Oh? Where is it? I don't remember."

"Oh no! Maybe you left it somewhere in the aquarium. Let's go to the entrance gate and try to ask the aquarium staff whether someone found it."

I told her and went to the entrance gate of the aquarium with them.

"Exuse me, did anyone find my daughter's water bottle? She lost it somewhere in the aquarium."

I asked the staff.

"Wait a mintue."

She asked another staff who was in the back office, then I saw him bringing my daughter's water bottle.

"Oh, that is hers!"

I told them.

Since I wrote her name on the water bottle bag, they asked her name and I answered it.

"You are very lucky! Someone has already found your water bottle."

The staff told me.

I told my daugher:

"Good for you! Say thank you to them."

"Thank you!"

We were relieved to find it soon.

Some troubles happened to us, but we were helped by many kind people.

I felt really happy and these happenings made our holiday more precious and happier.

(Actually we went to the aquarium last Wednesday.

Since I overslept yesterday morning,

I couldn't finish writing this article yesterday.

That's why I wrote that we went to the aquarium "yesterday".)


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Translator of their emotions

When we got out of the bath, my children started fighting.

I didn't know the cause of the fight, but I guessed my 7-year-old son spoke ill of my 5-year-old daughter.

It is normal for them so I didn't try to stop their fight.

But my daughter hit him hard.

He got mad at her and said:

"Ouch! What did you do? I hate you!"

But she ignored him and started singing.

Her behavior made him get even more angry.

He was so upset and started crying.

"That's why I hate you! Don't make fun of me!"

Since he was too excited, I thought I have to calm him down.

I let my daughter go to the living room, and I told him while drying his hair.

"I know how you feel. You didn't like her behavior in which she ignored you, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I hate her."

"I am sorry, in fact, I taught her about it before. It is her secret way how to deal with your bullying. You often speak ill of her when you are in bad mood, don't you? It was not her fault. She is always kind to you, right? When you told me that you felt cold, she brought you a blanket. Anyway, You guys are like my sister and me when we were children. We often fought and I used to tell her "I will never talk to again!". But I forgot about it the next day, and played with her again. That's siblings."

He stopped crying and listened to my story while laughing.

"Let's go to bed!"

I told him but he said:

"I will go to the living room and write something on my hand."

"What are you going to write on your hand? You have just finished taking a bath."

"I want to write "I will never talk to her" on my hand not to forget about it."

I was really surprised at him, it was not what I wanted him to learn from my story.

"You don't write down such a negative word on your hand! I want to forget about it! Go to bed!"

He started crying and struggling again.

I let him go to the bedroom and let my daughter in to the washroom.

I told her while drying her hair:

"He got mad at you because you didn't listen to him. But you had no choice because I told you how to act. It was not your fault."

Then my son came to the washroom crying bitterly.

"What happened?"

I asked him.

He said:

"When I tried to take my socks off, I knocked my head against the wall! It hurts!"

"Again? Are you OK? Let me see your head. Is it bleeding? No, OK. Calm down. It surely hurts.But you are OK."

I thought he was sleepy, so I tried to calm him down.

I told my daughter to wait for me here, and took him to the bedroom.

I don't tell my children "It doesn't hurt" in such kinds of situation.

I always try to accept their feelings, so I hugged him and kept telling him to calm him down:

"It hurts, but don't worry. You are OK."

I laid him on the futon and told him to go to sleep.

I went back to my daughter and told her:

"He is going to sleep. Maybe you don't notice why he always gets mad at you. So I am going to tell you why. He doesn't like that you talk to him like I do. I know you are very kind to him. But you sometimes try to take care of him too much. For example, you told him "Do your homework first!" before. You don't have to say like that. You regard him as a good friend, right? But he doesn't. As far as he is concerned, you are his younger sister. He always tries to behave as your brother even though you and he are only one year and 5 months differences in age. That's why he doesn't want you to say things like that. He thinks you are making fun of him even though you don't mean to do it."

While listening to my story, she started crying.

"I only want to play with him happily... I like him.."

She said.

"You don't have to cry. It wasn't your fault. But if you think it is good for him, it sometimes makes him get angry. You just need to try not to push his button.  Do you understand? Maybe it is a little difficult for you to understand.."

"I don't understand!"

She cried.

I thought she was too young to understand his feelings.

I tried to calm her down and went to bed together.

It was really hard to settle their fight down, I need to be their mediator and explain their feelings to each other.

I don't know if it succeeded this time, but I try to keep up my efforts from now on.

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I couldn't sleep well

My children and I usually go to bed at 9pm.

We spread bedding on "tatami"( it is a mat on the floor in a Japanese -style room) and we lie down side by side.

Our sleeping position resembles that of the Kanji character for the word "river" (" 川" in Kanji).

We say it "川の字で寝る" in Japanese.


Last night, my 5-year-old daughter suddenly woke up and started crying.

It means she wants to go to the bathroom, so I took her there. 

I went back to the Japanese-style room and saw the clock, it was 2am.

I was relieved that my husband was already sleeping in the futon.

He often comes home late, so I often check whether he has come home or not yet when I wake up.

After I fell asleep again, I was woken up because my 7-year-old son suddenly kicked me.

I returned him to his futon and tried to sleep again.

When I started dreaming, my alarm clock started ringing.

"Oh, I wasn't able to sleep well today..."

It was 4pm.

I sat down on the futon and I was out of it for a while.

When I was able to get up, it was already 4:30am.

I am able to have my own time only in the early morning.

In fact, I want to sleep more.

But since I have work, I have to make dinner, lunch boxes for my son and me (because it is spring vacation), and make breakfast.

After that, I can finally have time to study English.

I will take the TOEIC test in April, so I need time to prepare the test, but I can't make enough time.

I think I will sleep enough after the test.

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My recent trouble

My children like drawing and crafts very much.

I try not to let them watch TV after dinner weekday because I want them to spend their time for their favorite things like drawing, crafts, playing together, practicing the Electone (electronic organ manufactured by YAMAHA co,ltd) , and so on.

Since they often draw pictures and make something, their works are increasing.

I prepared a box for them to put them away, and I told them to dispose of some of them if the box becomes full.

If they want to keep them, they can.

But I want them to choose a few.

If they are able to dispose of them in the case of taking photos of them, I want them to dispose of them as possible because we don't have much room to put them away.

I found their drawings overflowed from the box last night.

I told them:

"Look at this! It is already full. Sort out the pictures!"

They started sorting unwillingly.

My 5-year-old daughter always says:

"I want to keep all of them!"

My 7-year-old son always becomes in bad mood and says:

"I don't want such poor drawings!"

If I could keep all of them, I would like to do it.

I don't want tell them to dispose of them.

My son said that he didn't want to throw his works away by himself.

I understand his feeling.

But if I throw their works in secret, they will be sure to get mad at me.

My daughter decided to dispose of two of them after taking photos.

The first one was a girl wearing a blue dress made of Origami.

The second one was a ship made of some plastic trays and a toilet paper tube.

 I am always worried about how to let them put their works away.


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Where is my tooth?

My 7-year-old son suddenly said yesterday morning:

"Oh? Where is my tooth?"

One of his front teeth was falling out recently.

I asked him:

"Didn't your tooth fall out yet before going to bed yesterday?"

"No, it may have fell out while I was sleeping."

He answered.

I looked for his tooth when I spread the futon, but I was not able to find it.

I wonder where on earth it has gone.

Maybe he coulld have swallowed his tooth?

Or has the Tooth Fairy already taken his tooth?


Note:

In fact, I didn't know about the Tooth Fairy until I heard about it in the dialogue practice of the NHK Radio English conversation program last year.

I wrote about the Japanese custom about milk tooth in my previous post:
http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2015/09/my-tooth-finally-fell-out_3.html

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My son's favorite picture

My 7-year-old son was absorbed in drawing Doraemon last night.

He loves drawing.

He will enter it into the reader's page of the magazine which he reads.

I think it will be difficult to achieve, but I hope it will be published in the magagine so that it will encourage him.

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Small pharmacy at home

The sales representative of the pharmaceutical company came to our house yesterday evening.

They left their medicines at my house, and if we use them, we need to pay for them.

If we don't use them, we don't have to pay for them.

We say the system is "Haichiyaku (配置薬)".

Another salesperson of the company came to our house 3 years ago to ask me if they could leave their medicine box at my house, and I accepted his offer.

After that, the sale representative of us changed to him.

There are various kinds of OTC medicines in the box, for example, cold medicine, gastrointestinal drugs, cough medicine, painkillers, anti-itching drugs, eye-drops, poultices, and so on.

It was very helpful when my children had colds.

The sales representative told me:

"I will be your representative this year again."

"Really? Good for you! He will come to our house this year again!"

I told my 5-year-old Daughter.

My children like him very much because he is always kind to them and he gave them a small toy several times before.

"Wow! Hooray!"

She was glad to hear that.

He continued:

"It has been two years since I was in charge of this area. It was just after I entered our company."

I said:

"You are still young. I envy you! You can do anything you want to do from now on."

"I need to study more and more."

I like his modest attitude.

I paid him for the medicine which I used and we said goodbye to him.

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Kumquats in suger syrup (Kinkan no Kanroni)

My children harvested many kinkan (kumquasts) at my parents house last Sunday.

My husband made Kinkan no Kanroni with them last night.

I have been thinking that I should make it, but it is hassle because I often fail to make it correctly.

When I woke up this morning, I found it in the kitchen.

I guessed he was able to come back earlier than usual, and he made it instead of me.

Since I was hectic last night and I was in a really pessimistic mood, I was grateful to  him on seeing it.

It is said that it is good for a sore throat.

Thank you my husband!

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Birds which herald the coming of spring ~Japanese bush warbler~

My children and I visited my parents house yesterday.

After we reached there, my children began to quarrel about what to play.

My 7-year-old Son wanted to play Donjyara (his favorite board game).

My 5-year-old Daughter wanted to play a jump rope.

When they were in bad moods, I heard a Japanese bush warbler sang from the garden.

"Wow! Did you hear it? I heard "Hooo- Hokekyo (ホーホケキョ ; songs of Japanese bush warbler!)". An Uguisu (Japanese busu warbler) may be in the garden. I want to hear it! I am going to go out to the garden!"

I was excited to listen to the song because it reminded me of coming of spring.

My children told me:

"I want to hear it, too!"

We went to the garden.

"Be quiet and listen. Hey! Did you hear it?"

The Uguisu was like singing!

My children forgot that they were quarreling and we drunk in the beautiful songs.

My mother told me:

"When I heard a Japanese bush warbler sang, something good always happened to us so far. For example, you and your sister passed the entrance exam."

"Really? So I hope something good will happen to us from now!"


After all, we started playing a jump rope at the garden listening to the Japanese bush warbler singing.

After that, my mother told my children:

"Let's play softball! Have you ever played it?"

Since she was a member of the soft ball club when she was a student, I also used to play it with her when I was a child.

She told them how to play.

We used a tree branch as a bat.

My mother was a pitcher, and my Son was so excited because he made a hit.

"Run! Run!"

I told him and he pretended to run around the bases.

My Son and Daughter hit the ball in turn.

When my Son's turn, he made a hit.

The accident happened at this time.

He was so glad and threw the bat and ran.

The bat hit my Daughter's face who was watching him.

She cried bitterly.

Unfortunately, she got a bruise on her face and cut inside her mouth a little.

My mother's good luck expectation didn't come true this time.

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Son and Dad, Daughter and Mom

My 7-year-old Son asked me yesterday morning:

"I want to ride my bicycle. Let's go with me!"

He can ride a bicycle, but we have not allowed him yet to ride a bicycle alone because he has not understood the traffic rules and it is still dangerous for him.

"I have to clean these dishes, clean the living room and stairs, and I also want to clean the fish tank of the gold fish. It is dirty, isn't it? So why don't you ask Dad?"

He asked my Husband to go out.

He said:

"Oh my goodness! It is windy today."

"It doesn't matter! Come on!"

"You need to exercise with him. You usually don't have time to exercise."

I told him.

"You, too!"

He said while laughing.

"Of course I have to! But the boy needs father. I think fathers can play with children more actively than mothers. And I have a lot of housework to do."

He accepted our Son's request unwillingly.

"OK, wait a minute."

He changed his cloths and they went out.


My 5-year-old daughter was still having breakfast.

She always takes a long time to finish meals.

I told her:

"Can you do me a favor? I am going to wash the fish tank today. Could you help me?"

"Sure! I like helping you!"

She was glad to hear that.

"OK. Finish your breakfast!"

I started washing dishes, then cleaned stairs, the Japanese room, the washroom, and the living room.

While cleaning, she finished breakfast and came to me.

"What can I do?"

"Well, could you wash the lid of the fish tank and the fish house at the wash basin? Use this brush. Don't use any soap."

"I know! The soap is a poison for gold fish. You taught me before!"

She started washing them.

After I finished cleaning rooms, we started cleaning the fish tank together.

She likes helping me, and she has washed the fish tank several times.

I was surprised that she could wash it very well.

She started changing water.

I told her:

"Pour water softly so that fish will not be surprised."

"Softly, gently."

She whispered.

"OK, we finished. Wow! The fish tank became clean! Thank you my Daughter!"

"You're welcome! I like helping you very much!"


My Son and Husband have just come home.

I asked him:

"Where did you go?"

He said:

"We went to the pond where I went for the first time. We saw turtles there!"

"Pond? Is it a little far from here?"

My Husband said:

"Yeah, we like exploring the new place which we have never been to, don't you?"

"Exactly!"

My Son answered.

I told them:

"Good for you! If I went with you, you could not go such a new place. How to play is quite different between Dad and me. I can't help restricting your activities because I always have to do housework and I worry about time."

I thought it is sometimes good for us to do somethings respectively.

My Husband can let our Son play more actively, and I can let a daughter do housework well.

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Last minute shopping

I took my 7-year-old Son to Karate practice yesterday evening.

While his was at practice, my 5-year-old Daughter and I went shopping.

The supermarket is closed at 8pm, and we got there at 7:15pm.

I was only going to buy ham, but when I found that grilled fish sold for only 100yen, I felt I wanted to call my husband because he likes fish very much.

He answered my call.

"Hello?"

I said in English on purpose.

"Hello? What happened (どうしたの)?"

He also said hello in English because the two of us are studying English.

"Are you going to come home early today?"

I asked him.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Why did you say "really"?"

He was surprised at me.

"Well, because you came home late every day in this week."

Actually, he was so busy this week that he came home around 5am every day.

"We are at the suparmarket now, I found the grilled fish is sold for 100 yen. It had been sold for 280 yen at first. But it is discounted because the supermarket will be closed soon."

He said:

"I want it!"

I also found Takoyaki (Octopus dumplings) was sold on sale for half price, and I bought it becasue my Daughter wanted it.

Then she suddenly said:

"Wow! I found my favorite thing!"

"What is it? Snack?"

I asked her.

"No! That is my favorite!"

She pointed at Tubozuke, which is a kind of yellow pickled radish(Daikon).

I was surprised at her because children usually don't like pickled vegetables.

Since it was sold by weight, I asked the shop clerk assistant:

"Can I have 100g of Tubozuke?"

"Sure."

He answered.

My Daughter added to me:

"Before I came here with my Dad, he threw in extra Tubozuke!"

I was really embarrassed to hear that.

He put Tubozuke into a plastic bag and weighed it.

He said:

"This is 100g, but I threw in extra."

"Oh, I am sorry, we seem to have pressured you into giving us a discount by force.

I couldn't help apologizing to him.

But my Daughter said with a smile:

"Thank you!"

She must be a better shopper than me.


When my children and I came home, my husband was already home.

We were glad that he came home before we went to bed.

We ate Takoyaki and grilled fish.

My husband and I drank beer together, and he made an appetizer for us.

"It's like a party!"

My Daughter said.

I told my husband:

"Good for you! Everybody is glad you came home early. Most children usually would not be so glad if their Dad who always comes home late comes home early. Do you know why we are so glad?"

"I don't know."

He said.

"The answer is easy. You always take care of our children. You always listen to me. That's all. It is not so important how long you stay with us. The important thing is the quality of time you spend with our children. You are a really good father."

I think not only children but also husbands will thrive by praising them.


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Bub caused the fight

I bought "Bub (バブ)" at the supermarket last week.

Bub is a kind of a bath salt which is made by Kao Corporation.

It was released in 1983, and has been on sale since then.

When I was a child, I stayed at my grandparents house with my mother and sister during New Year's vacation and Obon.

My grandmother always prepared Bub.

We looked forward to putting it into the bath tub.

It's shaped like a cube, and it effervesces like fizzy soda in hot water.

I liked its sound (しゅわしゅわ in Japanese) very much.

I also liked its nice smell, it makes me relax.

Bub is usually a little expensive, but it was on sale, I decided to buy it.

I thought my children would surely enjoy it.



But this decision was the cause of a fight.

They were sure to quarrel about how it should be dissolved in the bath tub.

My 7-year-old Son insisted :

"Don't touch it! I want to watch how it dissolves!"

My 5-year-old Daughter also insisted:

"I want to touch it because it is interesting! And I want to put it in the wash basin, so that I can see its color well!"

They would not give an inch on their oppinions.

So I suggested to them that they should use it as they like on alternate days, and they agreed with my idea.



It was my daughter's turn yesterday.

She put Bub into the wash basin and started dessolving it.

Then my son got angry with her and said:

"Don't put it into the wash basin, put it into the bath tub and don't touch it! "

"But today is my turn. I can use it as I like!"

She insisted.

"But I allowed you to touch the Bub yesterday!"

Actually, my daughter said to my son two days ago:

"I envy you! I want to touch the Bub, too!"

"Maybe he will allow you to touch it, he is always kind to you."

I told her on purpose, so he told her:

"OK! You can touch it!"

Thanks to my son's kindness, they were able to enjoy it together.

But she insisted that today was her turn and she never showed consideration to him.

He finally got mad at her and went out of the bath room.

I told them:

"Both of you didn't seem to be able to enjoy it together, so why don't you stop using Bub until you are able to use it happily. Unfortunately it causes your fight. Both of you always seem to think of yourself first."

"OK, OK ! I don't want to put it into bath tub!"

My son said a parting shot even though he liked Bub.

"Oh, no! I want to put it into the bath tub!"

My daughter cried.

I put it away in the cabinet.

I hope the day will come when they will use Bub together happily.

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A little happiness

"Do you want ham and eggs?"

I asked my 7-year-old son when I was preparing breakfast yesterday morning.

"Yeah, I want it."

He answered.

After the Karate tournament match, I try to add some dishes for him because my husband pointed out that he needs to eat more, especially obtain enough high-quality protein to be stronger.
Furthermore, I also love ham and eggs!


By the way, we usually call ham and eggs "ハムエッグ( ham egg)".

It is one of the English words coined in Japan.

Most of Japanese don't know that they are not proper English and believe that such kinds of English words are used in English-speaking countries.

< Wasei Eigo (Japanese-made English) examples >

サラリーマン sarary man = office worker

ノートパソコン note Pasocon = laptop

クレーム claim = complaint

コンセント　consent =  wall socket

トランプ　trump = playing card

ガソリンスタンド  gasoline stand = gas station

ナイター　nighter = night game


While eating ham and eggs, he said:

"Oh! I am lucky! There are two slices of ham!"

"Really? I didn't notice to use two slices of ham. Good for you."

He was glad innocently and ate it up.

After I finished working, I picked my son from the children's house then came home because he told me that he wanted to come home soon.

I walked to the nursery school to pick up my 5-year-old daughter.

On our way home, she skipped happily.

I asked her:

"Did you have something good today?"

"Yes! I played with my friend. I enjoyed it very much!"

I thought that I used to skip when I was a child but I have not skipped at all recently.

Both examples were only a little happiness, but if we can feel small happiness, it would pile up and become bigger happiness.



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Karate Tournament match

My 7-year-old son participated in a Karate tournament match yesterday.

Since it was his first time taking part in a real Karate match, I was more nervous than him.

Participants in his weight class consisted of only six boys and a girl, so his teacher told him that he would be able to get a medal if he wins once.

Before his match, we watched another boy and girl's match.

It was also the first time for me to watch a Karate match.

I was surprised that the children punched and kicked their opponents seriously because they usually punch and kick lightly when they practice, and they looked to be in pain when they were kicked and punched even though they wore headgear, shin guards, fist guards, and mouthpiece.

I worried whether he would be able to cope with such a match.

But he won the first match.

He fought bravely, he looked like a little martial art fighter.


His opponent in the next match was a 9-year-old girl with a green belt.

He fought against her bravely, but he was kicked and punched many times.

At the end of the match, he looked tired and he couldn't punch and kick any more.

He was like a sandbag.

He was kicked mercilessly, and he lost the match.

But he was brave.

He didn't run away from her, and he tried to fight back.

He never cried.

I thought he must have been in painful when he was kicked, but he put up with it.

If I were him, I would not be able to fight because of fear.


Consequently, he won the third prize.

He got a bronze medal and a honorable certificate.

He was glad to get them.

I hope this experience will give him confidence.

He told me that he is reserved in elementary school, and he wanted to become strong.

It doesn't mean that I want him to win the fight against his friends.

If he has confidence to himself, he will be able to feel that it is one of his good characteristics that he is reserved.


When we went to bed, he suddenly started crying.

He said:

"It was painful!"

He seemed to remember his lost match.

"You must have been in pain, but you were brave.  Go to sleep."

He went to sleep soon.

I was really impressed with him.

He is only 7 years old, but he was enough brave.

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Various ways of calling Mother

I took my children to my 5-year-old daughter's music school yesterday morning, then we visited my parent's house after a long interval.

It was good for my husband because we went out so that he was able to have free time.

He came home at 5:30am last Saturday, I mean, he worked overnight, so I wanted him to get enough sleep.

It was a really busy morning yesterday.

I made cookies with my daughter for White day.

We have a custom where we give cookies to those who gave us chocolate on Valentine's day on March 14 which is called White Day.

After that, since my 7-year-old son told me that she wanted to ride his bicycle, we went to the park near my house and he practiced it for a while.

Then we went to my son's friend's house to give her cookies which we made, then went to the music school.

On our way to my parents house, I had a slight headache and I felt sick.

I thought that it was because I worked too much in the morning and I had a lack of sleep.

When we reached my parent's house, I told my mother:

"Can I use a bed upstairs? I feel sick and have a headache. I think I will recover if I take a nap."

"Sure. We will take care of them."

I took a nap for about 1 hour, then I recovered from my headache.

I went to downstairs, my parents and my son were playing Donjyara (I wrote about Donjyara in my previous post : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2015/02/donjara-good-old-game.html

My daughter was drawing pictures.

She told me:

"Mom, I am making the picture story! The title is "I love mom.""

She showed me a picture which she drew.

I was touched by her picture.

She drew me holding her.

My daughter and I looked very kind and calmm filled with love and contentment in her picture.

I was really glad to see it.

She also wrote "I love mom" in Japanese ( おかあさん　すき).

She wrote mirror letters of さ and き.

But I didn't mind such slight mistakes.



By the way, my children usually call me "おかあさん".

But they sometimes call me "ママ" , "おかあちゃん" , "かあさん", "かあちゃん".

All of them mean mom and mother.

"母(haha)" is used when children (not young children) tell someone about their mothers.

"ママ" is usually used by young children.

"おかあちゃん" and "かあちゃん" sound more casual than "おかあさん" and "かあさん".

"おふくろ" is another way of saying mother.

It is mainly used by men, but it is only used when men tell someone about their mothers.


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5 years on from the Great East Japan Earthquake

2011.3.11, 14:46.

5 years ago, my 2-year-old son was taking a nap in the bedroom, and I was swaying from side to side slowly giving my 9-month-old daughter a piggyback to let her take a nap.

Suddenly the phone rang.

"Oh no! She was about to sleep. Who is calling at a time like this?"

It was the most important for me to let my children take a nap to get free time when my children were still babies.

"Hello?"

I answered the call.

"Hello. Oh, are you OK?"

It was from my mother in law.

"Oh, mother. Hi. What do you mean? What happened?"

"I have watched the new on TV just now, and it said that a very big earthquake occurred."

"Really? When and where? I didn't know about it at all. Wait a minute, I am going to turn on the TV."

I turned on the TV and watched NHK news.

"What's that...?"

I will never forget the scene which I watched.

A lot of houses, cars, everything was being washed away by Tsunami.

What an unbelievable disaster!

I worried where the people who lived in those houses were.

I told my mother in law that we were safe and I hung up the phone.

It was the Japanese intensity scale of 3 around here, but I didn't notice the quake because I was swaying from side to side with my daughter.

The maximum was Japanese intensity scale of 7 in Miyagi prefecture, and the magnitude was 9.0.

When I watched the Hydrogen explosion of the Fukushima first Nuclear Power Plant on TV news on March 12, I thought that I wonder what on earth would happen now.

Huge number of victims are still now living under serious situation.

After 5 years.

Are Nuclear power plants really safe?

What can we do for the victims?

I really hope they will be able to get back to normal as soon as possible.

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Large university hospital

I took my 5-year-old daughter to the university hospital to see a doctor yesterday.

She has a little bump on her right hip, so she needs to see a doctor twice a year.

The university hospital is very large, so it is always crowded.

The parking area is too large, so we always have to walk to the entrance of the hospital for about 5 minutes.

We have to wait for our turn even though we already made a reservation.

We had a reservation at 12:30 yesterday, but we were able to see the doctor at 1:00.

But it was still better than before.

We sometimes had to wait more than an hour.

They don't consider how patients can wait for a long time without getting bored.

For example, another clinic prepares magagines or TV in a waiting room, so that we can wait for a while.

I always bring a notebook and pens so that my daughter can wait for a long time drawing pictures.

Doctor's consulting finished in only 3 minutes and we had to wait to make a reservation of next examination for more than 30 minutes.

It made me really tired.

Visiting the hospital makes me depressed.

Isn't it ironic?

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Mom, there is something red on the towel!

While I was washing the dishes after dinner, I heard the sound of something bump.

Then my 7-year-old son suddenly started crying bitterly.

"What happened?"

I asked my children.

"He fell from the chair and bumped his head!"

My 5-year-old daughter shouted.

"What? Are you OK?"

I carried him in my arms and looked at his head.

"Where did you bump?"

"Around here. It hurts!"

He cried.

"Oh, poor my son!"

I brought an ice pack, covered it with a towel and cooled his head for a while.

Because he gradually calmed down, I told him:

"Lie down on the sofa for a while."

After a while, he woke up and told me:

"Mom, there is something red on the towel."

"What? Is it possibly your blood? Let me see your head again..... Oh no! You are bleeding from your head! Well, what should I do first in such kinds of situation?? Calm down, it's OK. I'm going to ask the health consultation. I always call them whenever I don't know what I should do."

I told myself to calm down.

"Mom, can I go to school tomorrow?"

My son looked at me and asked me anxiously.

"Yeah, you can go. Don't worry!"

The telephone health consultation is one of the services which is offered by the health insurance association which my husband takes out, we can ask staff who are nurses about health problems. 

The staff answered my question:

"First, stop the bleeding with a clean towel. You should go to see a doctor, but it is already 7:30pm, you might not find a doctor which are still open. Shall I search for a doctor around your area now?"

"Well, no thank you. I know a doctor which my daughter has gone and seen before. I am going to call and ask them now. Thank you so much."

I hung up the call then I called the doctor.

"Hello. Are you already closed? I would like to take my son to see a doctor."

"We are open until 8pm."

The office clerk answered.

"Really? Then we are going there now!"

I took my children to the clinic.

The doctor took an X-Ray of his head.

"OK, no problem! The blood already stopped. "

The examination finished soon.

I was really relieved.

I thought it was really lucky that I was able to find a doctor which was still open after 7pm.

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Kinako milk

I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning, but I sometimes have a cup of "Kinako milk" recently.

Kinako is roasted soybean flour.

I had previously bought Kinako to sprinkle with boiled mochi, but sicne it is about to expire, I wanted to use it.

I microwaved a cup of milk and put some Kinako into it and mixed and melted it.

I also put honey in it.

That's all!

It is very easy to make it.

I read an article on an website before and it said that Kinako milk is good for burning fat, relieving constipation, obtaining calcium, preventing hypertension, improving skin complexion.

It can prevent overeating if you have it before breakfast.

I think I will try to continue drinking it for a while.

 

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Stop Quarreling!

Since there were a lot of leftover rice, I made fried rice for dinner yesterday.

I cut cabbage, carrot, green pepper, onion, pork, shimeji(mushroom), and sausages, then stir-fried them with a little salt and pepper.

Then I stir-fried rice and egg with chicken stock powder, add the meat and vegetables, mixed them, and stir-fried them again.

While having dinner, my 7-year-old son told me:

"Today's fried rice is something different from the usual. I think it is harder."

I thought he was right because I used the leftover rice and I knew he didn't like it.

He stopped eating it and lay on the sofa.

But I told him:

"But I made it as always do. I don't think this fried rice is harder than usual, and the taste is not different, right? I know you don't like hard food, but this is the cause of your weak chewing power as you were told by the dentist. I want you to eat it even if it is a little hard for you."

My 5-year-old daughter who was listening to me told him:

"Your chewing power will be weak if you don't eat it!"

He got mad at her on hearing her words and said:

"What did you say? Huh? Don't make fun of me! That's why I dislike you! Hey, are you listening to me?"

She ignored him completely and told me:

"Mom, I love you!"

He was enraged to hear that and told me:

"Mom! She isn't listening to me! I dislike her!"

She still kept smiling to me.

He was speaking ill of her for a while.

I thought it was about time to stop their quarrel.

First, I asked him:

"Hey! Wait a mintue. Why are you so getting angry with her? I really don't understand why. Tell me why."

He answered:

"Because she didn't listen to my story. She always makes fun of me!"

"What did she say? Why do you think she makes fun of you?"

"She told me that my chewing power is weak. I don't want her to talk about it! She always makes fun of me. For example, she has never put toys away, I always put them away alone. But she always behaves as if she put all of them away!"

They had taken an exam checking their chewing power at the event booth of a dentist at the summer festival, and she was stronger than him.

Maybe he remembered about it.

And I know my son doesn't like that she is skilled at shirking her responsibilities and getting him to do them.

I told my daughter:

"Why is your brother getting angry with you? He was shouting at you but you wouldn't listen to him. And he didn't want you to say about his chewing power. It was an unnecessary for him to say waht he did. You know he is always a good brother, he always helps you.  Listen to what he is saying. He is serious. Do you understand his feeling?"

I know why she ignored him.

She just followed my advice which I told her before.

Because my son often speaks ill of her when he is in bad mood, and she always cries on hearing what he said.

I told her:

"It's not your fault. He is only feeling under the weather, so he doesn't dislike you. You don't have to listen to what he says when he is in bad mood. You need to be patient."

Actually, she is more patient than him.

"Yeah, I am sorry."

She apologized to him, but he was still mad at her.

I also told my son:

"And do you understand why your sister didn't listen to you?  Because she didn't want to quarrel with you. She only wants to get along with you. She loves you. That's why she didn't want to listen to your complaint. I understand your feelings, but you get angry too much. What I said is true. You need to eat your dinner if you feel it is a liitle harder than usual. "

His mood semed to change on hearing,  they started playing together after dinner.

I understand their feelings well, so I sometimes have to become the translator of their feelings.

It is a slightly hard task, but I think it is one of the important parts of parents' duty.

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The ending of congratulation on their recovery from the flu

Our family went to Sushiro (sushi-go-round restaurant) for lunch yesterday to celebrate that my 5-year-old daughter and my husband recovered from the flu.

After we finished lunch, I told my husband:

"Would you like to have a coffee? If so, why don't we go to Komeda?"

Komeda is one of the famous coffee shops around here.

I thought it was too luxurious to eat out twice a day, but I wanted to visit there because I was really tired from taking care of them and making meals three times a day during they had the flu, so I thought this luxury was acceptable on rare occasions.

I ordered coffee and Siro Noir(シロノワール）.

Siro Noir is one of the most popular menus in Komeda, it is a danish bread with soft cream and syrup.

Whenever I go to Komeda, I always order the Siro Noir.

I shared it with my daughter.

My children enjoyed reading children's books and my husband and I enjoyed reading some magazines prepared in the shop while having a nice coffee.

After that, we went shopping at the supermarket, then we stopped by the park near the supermarket.

My children have visited there on a field trip with the nursery school, but I visited there for the first time though it was not so far from our house,

Since there were a lot of benches and trees in the park, it was really comfortable to look at my children.

My daughter and I enjoyed riding the swings, and my 7-year-old son and my husband climbed up the big tree.

Since the trunk of the tree were so thick, it was easy for my son to climb it.

While I was riding the swing, my stomach started aching.

We stayed at the park about 1 hour, but I said:

"Let's go home. I have a stomach ache."

My children said:

"Oh no! I want to stay here more!"

But I ignored them and started walking to my car.


After we came home, Since I was so sleepy and had a stomach ache, I went to bed.

While my husband took our children to practice riding bicycles, I took a nap for a while.

I recovered from my stomach ache after dinner.

I thought maybe I ate too much at a lunch time.


My son finished drawing his ideal town which I wrote about in yesterday's post.

I was not able to give him some advice about his drawing, so I suggested him yesterday morning:

"Why don't you draw the airport? How about add the sea and a supermarket? Are there any hospitals?"

"OK! I will add them!"

He completed his ideal town.

I told him:

"Wow! If there were a town like this, I would like to live there!"

He looked happy to hear that.



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