Next to Me

Kenzo wanted to write another letter to his friend Ibuki, but he can't quite put the hiragana together yet. He asked me for help.

This came soon after he got pretty upset at me because he came into my office fifteen minutes after I tucked him and Osamu in for a nap and reiterated very clearly that if you don't nap you don't get a snack. Well, they'll get a snack, but there's a special sucker kind of candy that Eri got for them that's meant to be given only for extra good boy behavior. That's the one that you don't get if you don't sleep. 

He quietly came in and I turned around and said, "You have to sleep or no candy."

Kenzo was adamant that he slept. He was on the edge of tears and said, "Papa always says I didn't sleep but I did sleep."

I think he thinks he did sleep. Even though he didn't. He really resists naps. So I didn't push it. I told him I was sorry for not believing him and that his snack was on the kitchen counter and to use a wet tissue afterward to wipe off his hands and mouth and he said yes papa and he was off.

I’m working on a budget for next year and I am in way over my head on this stuff.

Then Osamu woke from his nap and came into my office and tackled me, as is his way. He asked me what I was doing and I told him papa is working but he didn't wait for an answer before he climbed into my lap and gave me a huge hug. His Paw Patrol hoodie was warm and smelled like freshly napped Osamu. I told him his snack was downstairs on the kitchen counter and off he went.

A little bit later I went down to check on the boys and they were watching PJ Masks and playing with their early Christmas Legos from Auntie Grace. Osamu asked me, as he always does, "Papa, are you done with work?"

It was still five o'clock. I told the boys I had a little more to go. Kenzo said he needed help with his letter and seemed pretty serious about it. I had to get back to my spreadsheet. 

I pointed to the clock and said, "Hey bud. When the big hand gets to the three come upstairs and bring your letter and I'll help you."

So at exactly 17:15 I heard the footsteps coming upstairs.

Kenzo had written the "to" and "from" parts of his letter on his own and it was pretty good. However, he wanted to tell his friend that he's good at soccer and he knows how to say it but he doesn't know how to write it. So he told me what he wanted to say and I wrote it in hiragana for him on a separate piece of paper and made sure he was watching so he could see how the characters are formed.

He copied it himself onto his letter. I told him he could take it downstairs and work on it but he said he likes writing letters at my desk next to me.