My big worry about the game

My 7-year-old son made the device which can play marble run last evening.

I was really impressed with his imagination.

But I have a big worry about him now.

He went to his friend's house yesterday.

His friend started playing Nintendo DS.

Since my son doesn't have it, he was only watching him.

My son asked his friend to lend it to him, but his friend was absorbed with playing it and would not lend it to him.

I went to his house to pick him up at 4:30pm with my 5-year-old daughter.

His mother told me:

"Please come in. They are still playing."

We entered the house.

I talked with her about the game.

I knew that she had not given the game to her son yet when he was 5 years old.

But she said that she gave it to him last year.

She said:

"It is a lot of causes of troubles.
 I made him promise that he can play the game after he finishes his homework, he can play it for 15 minutes a day, and he can't take it out from the house.

 But one day, he heard from his friend that his friend can play it for an hour a day.

He insisted that he also can play it for an hour a day.

It is useful when I want him to wait for something quietly.

He is really quiet during the game.

But it is really hard for me to let him stop playing the game when he doesn't break his promise."

I could imagine the situation easily if my son would have the game.


As I expected, he told me after we came home:

"I want DS! I will buy it for my money which I save!"

I thought I need to tell him my thoughts and worries.

"I can't say you may.

 It is very expensive toy, so you can't buy it with your money.

As a kid, I was absorbed with Nintendo Family Computer.

 I often went to my friend's house to play it. It was really fun.

 It was really fun. My mother bought it to my sister and me when I was 10 years old.

 I was absorbed with playing it. I sometimes played it for more than 3 hours.

After that, my sister bought the Gameboy. I often played it for a long time.

 Then my eyesight got worse.

Now I can't see well unless I wear the contact lens. I really regretted. But my eyesight will never recover.

 I know you have a similar character with me, you will be surely absorbed with playing the game.

You didn't stop playing the game when I told you to stop it.

I know it is fun, and I am not saying that I will not give you the game in the future.

But if I give you the game, we will need to decide some promises.

And I am really worried whether you can keep the promises.

I don't want to get angry with you about the game even though the game must be fun.

And  I am worried whether you will not have time to draw and make something because of the game.

I want you to spare your time for such  creative activities which you love.

That's why I can't agree with your idea now.

If you will keep our promises, I will change my mind.

Because I liked playing the game before."

He looked tired to listen to my long story.

Actually, I don't know his friends who don't have the game.

I might have to think it flexibly, but I have more worries than advantages now about the game.

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Unbelievable morning

I usually wake up at 4am every morning.

Recently, my 7-year-old son wants to wake up early like me because he wants to spend his morning time for his favorite activities like reading comics, drawing, making something, and so on.

But he woke up at 5:40am yesterday.

I told him:

"It's still too early. Aren't you sleepy?"

"I couldn't sleep anymore because it was a little cold."

He answered.

I told him:

"But the living room is also a little cold. Maybe you should sleep in the futon(blanket)."

"But it is a little hot in the futon."

"Hot? Didn't you say it was a little cold? Anyway, you should sleep more."

"I got it.  I will slepp again so please wake me up at 6:30."

He went back to his futon.


I tried to wake him up at 6:30am. but he was not able to wake up.

10 minutes later, I tried to wake him up again.

He came to the living room.

After a while, he went to the bed room again, then he woke my 5-year-old daughter up and took her to the living room.

"Wow! You woke her up! Thank you so much! It is always hard for me to wake her up. She often gets angry with me even though I am only waking her up."

They started having breakfast around 7am and finished at 7:30am.

It is not so rare for my son to finish breakfast at that time because he always leaves for school at 7:45am.

But it is quite unusual for my daughter to finish breakfast at 7:30am.

She eats breakfast very slowly.

I often want to leave home to take her to the nursery school at 8:30am, but she is often still eating breakfast at 8:20am.

"Wow! Both of you finished breakfast early! You have a lot of time until we go to the nursery school. I am really glad. I don't have to tell you "Hurry up!" today."

My daughter was glad to hear that.

She changed her clothes and started tying her hair even though she has short hair.

I thought that's what it's like to a be girl.

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Kabuto and Koinobori

My husband displayed the Kabuto(Samurai's helmet) last Sunday.

Families who have a boy usually display a Kabuto for celebrating Children's day on May 5th.

He also put up a Koinobori (carp streamer) in our garden yesterday morning.

Families who have a boy also display a Koinobori anytime in April to May 5th. for celebrating and praying for their healthy growth.

My children like Koinobori very much!

Koinobori suits the blue sky!

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My husband's tactic

My family went to Sushiro (Sushi-go-round restaurant) for lunch yesterday.

Before we went there, I asked my husband:

"I want to go shopping after lunch, In fact, I wanted to finish it yesterday, but since our daughter wanted to go to the park, I was not able to go. If I go with the children, it will take more than twice as long as if I go alone, because they will want to go elsewhere and ask us to buy something. I don't have extra time to go shopping this week, so I definitely want to finish shopping today. So if you are OK with this, I will take you and the children home and I will go shopping alone, or you can go to the park if the children want to go."
He answered:

"Let's go shopping together."

I was surprised at his answer because he doesn't like shopping.

"Really? Are you OK with this? I want to go to the shopping mall, drug store, and supermarket. It will take some time. If you take care of children while I am shopping, we will be able to finish it earlier."

"Yeah, OK."

He said.

I thought he would rather go shopping with us than go to the park with our children.

Maybe he was tired because he joined in the softball tournament match held by his company last Saturday.

We went to the shopping mall, drug store, and finally arrived at the supermarket.

My husband said:

"I am going to sleep in the car."

I was again surprised by his answer.

"No way! Do you know how long we will take if I go alone with the children? They will want to go to the toy department and stay there for a long time. If you are with them, I will be able to go to the first floor and finish shopping while you are at the toy department. Please!"

"Yeah yeah. I am going with them."

He accepted my request unwillingly.

After I finished shopping, I went back to my car to take what I bought and went to the toy department.

They were still there.

I told them:

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go home!"

On our way to the parking area, my 5-year-old daughter said:

"Oh? Where is Dad? He is not with us."

"Maybe he wanted to buy something. He is fine. He is already an adult so he can go back to the car by himself."

I said.

"But I worry about him. Where is he? I think we should look for him."

She said.

"We wait for him in the car. He will come back soon."

I said.

He came back soon with a plastic bag.

"What did you buy?"

I asked him.

He gave it to our daughter saying :

"Here you are."

"Wow! They are the glitter Origami! Thank you Dad! I am going to make something with this. Let's go home! Oh, I can't wait to get home!"

She was really glad to get them.

I wondered why he bought them only for her, not for our son.

Then I could find out his true feeling.

Our daughter told me that she wanted to go to the park because she also wanted to show her dad that she can do the monkey bars at Sushiro.

He heard what she said and he wanted to change her mind.

"Oh, I get it. You are a schemer, aren't you?"

I told him.

He looked at me and said nothing.

Maybe he really didn't want to go to the park.

It was really funny to me.

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Seeing her again by chance

I went to the car dealer with my children for a recall and having my car repaired.

After that, since my 5-year-old daughter told me that she wanted to show me that she can do the monkey bars, we went to the park near our house.

There were some families there.

My children played the monkey bars and the slide, then they rode the swing.

I was standing next to the another mother who was looking at her daughter at the slide.

Then, my 7-year-old son started climbing toward the top bar of the swing.

Since I know he likes climbing thing, I was not suprised at him.

But a mother next to me seemed to be surprised at him and said:

"Wow! He is climbing up such a high place!"

I looked at her and was really suprised because she was a friend of mine.

"Oh, you are Hanako-chan's mother! (Hanako is a pseudonym.)"

"Wow! I am impressed that you remembered that! I didn't notice that you were next to me!"

She said.

"Yes, your daughter's name left an impression. We often met at the regional childcare support center when they were babies. Their faces have changed after growing up, so we were not able to notice each other! I was able to recall you when I saw your face! I can't believe that it has been five years alreaday! How have you been? Do you live near here?"

Her daughter and my children started playing together.

We enjoyed catching up with each other.

She told me that she is still a regular employee now, but she is considering quitting her job next March.

She said:

"I am really tired every day. I want to have less distractions. I am sorry for my daughter. She has to stay at the nursery school from early morning to late evening."

I said:

"You are great! You have been working hard for your job, family and housework well without your mother's help. I am hectic every day even though I am a part-time job worker."

She said:

"I am planning for my daughter to start going to the piano lesson and swimming school. I am not able to spare my time for her now. I really feel sorry for her."

"But she looks so friendly and has already got used to my children. I am sure that
 it is not only due to her natural talent but also due to the environment of the nursery school. I think that she is not bashful in front of strangers because she went to the nursery school since she was a baby. Her talent will be very helpful for you when she enters the new environment like the elementary school in the next year."

I told her and she said:

"I hope so."

We enjoyed talking about an hour and it was already 5:30pm.

I said to her when we were going home:

"I’m so happy that I got to see you again!"

"Me too!"

We waved at each other and said goodbye.


In fact, I prefer to be alone or stay with my family rather than see frineds recently.

It has been slightly worrying.

I liked meeting friends before I had a child.

But now, I am always busy and tired.

If I had spare time, I like to relax alone.

I was worried that I have not been able to get along well with frineds anymore.

But I really had a happy time with her.

I was really glad to know that it doesn't mean that I can't get along well with friends but that I am just busy with work, childcare, and housework.

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How to write days of the week in Japanese

When I went to the nursery school to pick my 5-year-old daughter up, she showed a paper to me.

"Look at this mom, I practiced writing!"

She said.

I told her:

"Wow! You wrote numbers. Fantastic! Some numbers are written in mirrored though."

"These are not bad!"

She doesn't like her mistakes pointed out.

I couldn't help smiling at her writing of days of the week.

She wrote:

"げつ　かぁ　すい　もく　きん　どぅ　にち ( Mon. Tue. Wed. Thr. Fri. Sat. Sun.)"

The correct way is:

"げつ　か　すい　もく　きん　ど　にち ( Mon. Tue. Wed. Thr. Fri. Sat. Sun.)""

But when we pronounce these, the sound is as my daughter's wrote.

Tuesday (か) sounds like "かぁ", and Saturday(ど) sounds like "どぅ".

But it is pronounced like her examples only in the situation of saying "げつ か すい もく きん ど にち".

If you say "かようび (Tuesday)"  or "どようび(Saturday)", we never say it like "かぁようび" or "どぅようび".

I explained this difference to her, but it was a little difficult for her to understand.



I realize how the Japanese language is difficult.

I think those who are learning Japanese are amazing.

Maybe it is difficult for those who are non-native Japanese to remember Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

Even Japanese children need more than 10 years to remember various kinds of Japanese language.

It is still difficult for me to write, read, speak and listen to English.

If you find a mistake which you couldn't help smiling at, please feel free to post your comment and teach me!


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A new tent like a small house

My husband and I decided to purchase a tent because we thought we should have a tent for one of the disaster measures.

I had wanted a tent because it would be useful when we go to a large park in spring and summer.

When we watched the news of Kumamoto earthquake on TV, there were a lot of people evacuating to the school ground.

If I were there, I would be scared and would not want to be in buildings because too many earthquakes occur.

We thought that a tent might be helpful in such a situation.

Since I worked, my husband and children went to purchase a tent last Sunday.

They looked around some shops and bought a little tent.

My husband assembled the tent in the Japanese room.

It was very easy, even I could assemble it.

My children were so excited to see it.

"Wow! It is our small house!"

They brought their manga and toys into the tent.

Four of us could lay down in the tent.

My 5-year-old daughter said:

"I want to sleep in the tent today!"

"Noway! Why do we have to sleep in the tent even though we are home?"

We laughed.

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Ramen and Soft ice cream

After finishing dinner, my children were drawing eagerly.

I finished washing dishes, then I told them:

"I went to the library to return books which I borrowed last time, and borrowed other books today."

I also told my 5-year-old daughter:

"You like stories related to food and snacks, don't you? So I borrowed some."

She said:

"Look mom! I drew this."

"Wow! Did you draw this? A ramen and a soft ice cream which are served at the ramen shop where we sometimes go, right? You drew Naruto and corn and Char siu! It looks tasty. Amazing!"

 

  I continued:

"And you drew a tea cup. Did you draw a tree?"

"Yes. The right one is a cherry tree blooming. The middle one is a cherry tree in summer, and the left one is a cherry tree in winter."

I was impressed with her imagination.

My 7-year-old son who was listening to my speaking to her told me:

"I can draw ramen and soft ice cream!"

He started drawing eagerly.

"Look mom! I am done!"

He showed me his drawing.

"I drew a set meal. I am eating them on the train. You can see the window, right?  You can see the scenery from the window of the train!"

"Wow! What a gorgeous meal! There is a crab! And I don't know why but there is also a Hinomaru-bento!"

Hinomaru-bento is a bento which consists of rice and umeboshi(pickled plum), and it looks like a Japanese national flag.

That's why it is called Hinomaru-bento.

He believes he is good at drawing, so it was funny for me that maybe he didn't want to lose to his sister.


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Album with full of family's memories

I finally finished studying for my job!

In fact, after I finished it, I made an album for my mother as a present of mother's day.

I usually gave carnations for her every year, but this year, I really wanted to show my gratitude to my mother.

I considered what would make her glad the most.

From my point of view as a mother, I arrived at the answer that my happiness would be what my children would be happy.

So I decided to make an album with full of my family's memories.

When I got married and moved to my house, I brought my albums which my mother had made since I was born, so she is not able to see those photos now.

I selected about 70 photos from them, and scanned some old negative photos using ScanSnap produced by Fujitsu corporation.

The ScanSnap is a document scanner and it is really excellent.

It can connect my laptop using WiFi and scan 25 pieces of A4 paper both sides in only one minute.

This is one of the photo of my mother and me which I scanned.

I ordered a photo book at an online photo book making service company.

It will be sent to my mother at the end of April.

I hope she will be glad to see it.

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The 9th Wedding Anniversary

Last Friday was our 9th wedding anniversary, but we completely forgot about it.

We made dinner together for our celebration.

The steamed rice with bamboo shoots which I made was terrific!

The steamed mussels cooked with butter and white wine which my husband was fantastic!

It was a souvenir from Spain from my husband's boss.

When I ate it, I felt like traveling to Spain!

I was really happy having a wonderful dinner with my family.

About the Kumamoto Earthquake.

Fortunately, I called my parents in law who live in Kyushu and confirmed that they were OK.

My heart aches for the earthquake victims suffering and fear.

I really hesitated whether I would write my daily events in such a serious situation.

Big earthquakes have occurred frequently.

They must be scared and at a loss.

I read a news article that the stricken area is in a chaotic state.

People can't find information where they can recieve relief supplies.

I wonder what I can do for them.

Tomorrow it might be me.

I am really scared.

I only hope that the damage from aftershocks will not make things worse.


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Bamboo shoots

My mother in law sent us bamboo shoots yesterday.

I sent a text message to my husband to inform him of receiving them because they are perishable so I wanted him to come home early and cut and boil them last night.

It is really hard for me to boil them because they were so big that I can't cut them easily.

Since he loves bamboo shoots very much, he always comes home early if I inform him of receiving bamboo shoots.

He frequently comes home late,  so it is a good reason for him to come home early.
But he didn't come home while my children and I were awake.

When I woke up and went to the kitchen, he had finished boiling the bamboo shoots, so I peeled their skins.

 

I made steamed rice with bamboo shoots.

 

He will be glad to see it.

 

 

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The TOEIC test

My husband and I took the TOEIC test yesterday.

It was difficult for me.

To get more than 800 points was my target for this test, but it might be difficult.

My husband said:

"Voices still sound blurry with my left ear though I recovered my middle ear infection. But it is just an excuse. I could catch any words if the dialogue had been read in Japanese."

"It means we need to study English more! Actually, the test ended when I was reading the last question. So I answered it randomly. I couldn't finish answering all the questions last time, too. Furthermore, I am not sure if I could answer the questions correctly even in Part 1 though it is the easiest part."

I told him.

"Anyway, we will keep studying English and let's try to take the test again."

We told each other.



After the test, we went to my hometown since I asked my parents to take care of our children while we took the test.

The spring festival was held in my hometown yesterday. so we stopped by the city hall to see it.

There were Six Dashi (floats) there.

 Ohayashi and drum sounds made me excited.

My husband told me:

"I want to see them after those lights are turned on."

I considered our future schedules and told him:

"OK!"

We stopped by the supermarcket on our way to my parent's house and bought our dinner.

We reached my parent's house and had dinner with my parents and children.

Then my husband and I went to see the floats again.

They were very beautiful!

When we were going home, I missed the floats.

Whenever the spring festival ends, I miss the floats because I recall my old days.

See you next year!


Note:

I finished the TOEIC test, but I will be busy studying for my job for a while, so I might not be able to write my blog so often.

But I promise I'll come back.

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Spring in full bloom

I had a day off today.

It is the last day of the spring vacation today.

My children and I went to the park near our house with my mother to see cherry blossoms.

They were still in full bloom, but started falling little by little.

They were so beautiful!

 

 

It will rain tomorrow, so maybe today would be the last day which we are able to see cherry blossoms in full bloom in this year around here.

I found the horsetails in our garden.

My 5-year-old daughter went to the nursery school only in the morning because today was the first day of the new grade of the nursery school.

She wanted to know her new class members and who would be her teacher.

My 7-year-old son's elementary school will start from tomorrow.

He will be a second grade student.

I hope he will meet new good friends and teacher in the new class tomorrow.

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Night cherry blossoms

We went to the park near our house last night.

There are a lot of cherry blossoms there and they were already in full bloom.

Cherry blossoms are illuminated only during the blooming season.

My children and I went there to see the night cherry blossoms for the first time last year, it was really beautiful.

My husband was not able to go with us because he was working last year when we saw the night cherry blossoms, so I wanted him to see the beautiful views this year.


There were a lot of cherry‐blossom viewers there.

They were really fantastic and beautiful!

Since my husband likes taking photos, so he was absorbed in taking photos of cherry blossoms.

My 7-year-old son got a digital camera as his birthday present last January from my mother, so he was also absorbed in taking photos.

My 5-year-old daughter was jealous of people who were having a party under the cherry blossom.

 

She said:

"I envy them! I want to eat like them!"

"You already finished dinner at home just now!"

She seems "花より団子(Bread is better than the songs of birds ; more practically minded, less interested in beauty and nature and more concerned with the practicalities of life)".


I told my husband:

"When we get old, let's come here again and drink beer while watching Sakura."

"You only want to drink beer, don't you?"

"Oh, am I busted?"

We laughed together.

It was a nice night for us.

~*~*~*  Note ~*~*~*

 

I will not able to enter my entries here for about a week
because I need to focus on my review for the TOEIC.

I will write my diary after the test, so please visit here again!

 

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Earthquake Early Warning

When it was about 11:42am yesterday, I was at our office.

Suddenly, a noisy warning alarm started going off from our company's iPad and our staff's smartphone.

Our customer and our staff including me were surprised at the sound.

I checked the iPad, I found the Earthquake Early Warning message and it said that the earthquake of Japanese intensity scale of 5 will occur around our city 44 seconds after now.

(The Earthquake early warnings is issued to the genera public as soon as possible by Japan Meteorological Agency through TV, radio, smartphone, cellphone, and so on when an earthquake of Japan seismic scale 5-lower or higher is expected.)

I was panicked, but I tried to keep calm and said to our customer and our colleague:

"The earthquake early warning, the earthquake of Japanese intensity scale of 5 will occur around our city 44 seconds after now. Please be careful!"

Fortunately, it was the earthquake of Japanese intensity scale of 2 and we hardly felt the earthquake.

 I regretted that I should have told them to hide under the desk later.

As a result, all of us were safe.

But it is said that Nankai megathrust earthquakes probability  with a magnitude of 8-9 within 30 years is 60-70%.

I told my colleague:

"It was very scary.I strongly hope that this earthquake is NOT the warning sign of the Nankai trough major earthquake."

"You are right. I thought I have to prepare water and emergency supplies."

She said.

"You read my idea!"

I told her and we laughed each other.

Actually it will be no laughing matter.

My 7-year-old son told me:

"It is easy! We should move somewhere before the earthquake will occur."

"No way! As long as we live in Japan, we can't escape from the earthquake."

I told him.

We need to take measures against the earthquake as soon as possible.

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