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Takes Forever

Kenzo loves coloring. Pretty much daily he asks me to print him a coloring sheet. Sometimes two. He comes up to my office while I'm working and asks me. Yesterday was kind of hectic with my late meeting, but after I was done he asked for an Incredibles coloring sheet and I told him maybe if we have time. Well, we didn't have time. After bath time and story time it was late so I told him to ask me tomorrow.

This morning Kenzo and mama were up on time but Osamu and I were late as usual. Especially Osamu. And he wet his bed again. He told mama, "I went pee before bed but I still peed." So Friday morning was busy. And rushed. Time was short and there were unexpected "variables" like removing and washing sheets and since the sun seemed to be coming out there was laundry to be hung out.

In the middle of it all Kenzo asked me, "Papa, can I get a coloring sheet?"

I told him we had to get ready to go to kindergarten and papa had to get ready for work and there wasn't time to color anyway so let's do that later after you get home. He was visibly distressed. He told me he would put his coloring sheet on his table and have it ready for when he came home if I could just print it now.

There was no way I could go upstairs and print him a coloring sheet. The clock was ticking. The boys and mama have to get out by 8:05 so they can catch the kindergarten bus.

Osamu is developing his sense of time. Everything that happened before was "yesterday." He'll talk about things that happened last week and say it was yesterday. Kenzo has a better grasp on time and space, but he's also six years old and age-appropriately unreasonable. 

I know better than to use logic with little boys, but I did it anyway. I pointed to the clock and told Kenzo we still have things to do to get ready so there's not time to go up and print coloring sheets. He was giving me "the face." He was feeling that this was unfair.

Somehow, in the end, we made it through. I promised Kenzo that when he got home from kindergarten the first thing I would do was print any coloring sheet he wanted. Delayed gratification is something I've proactively encouraged with the boys. I regularly do the thing where I offer them a small snack now and offer them a bigger snack if they wait until a certain time. They're pretty good at waiting.

When the boys got home I had just wrapped up a meeting and as expected Kenzo came marching into my office and before he could say anything I said, "Time for your coloring sheet!"

He was visibly excited. The moment had come. He chose an Incredibles coloring sheet from my Google image search and after it came out of the printer he took it downstairs, placed it next to his pencil and crayon box, and bounced back upstairs and climbed up to his top bunk for a nap.

Eri was off to her class, but she prepared dinner and gave me the instructions on her way out.


The boys had one of their favorites - shirasu ikura nori gohan. Basically, it's a bowl of rice with a pile of little fish, seaweed flakes, and fish eggs on top.


They devoured it all. Plus a croquette. 

I stood in the kitchen, washed dishes, ate some tuna sashimi, and occasionally called out, "Osamu, are you done?" He takes forever to finish a meal.

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