We Can Be Loud

This afternoon Eri walked up the street to the elementary school for a big orientation and explanation meeting for parents of new first-graders. Kenzo starts in April and there's a lot to think about and prepare for. She came home with a big envelope full of paperwork and a plastic bag full of school supplies. I don't remember exactly how we did it when I was in elementary school. I think families just got a list of stuff the school said they needed and then they go buy it themselves. Here you just pay the school and they give everyone a bag of the necessary supplies. It's convenient and ensures all students start off uniformly.

There was a little drama because Eri and I decided to opt out of joining the PTA for now. Apparently it's not a mandatory thing but everyone joins. After the parent meeting the head of the PTA went up to Eri and asked why we weren't joining and Eri just said we don't feel like it. I love her confidence and the fact that she rarely feels the need to conform, which is sort of not very Japanese of her. She's super Japanese in other ways, like craving miso soup all the time and not feeling whole until she visits the Shinto Shrine on New Year's Day. I think she has a good balance.

Since the meeting was long Eri took the day off school, which the boys were excited about. They were also happy because papa was assigned to pick them up at the bus stop when they came home. I managed to take a little afternoon break from work to run over and get them. Osamu got off the bus and announced he had to go pee, so I left Kenzo in the car and took Osamu into the community center across from the bus stop where we always park. Osamu went in and did his business on his own and when he emerged from the bathroom he quietly confessed to me that peed on his pant leg.

First thing this morning the boys were glued to their English learning app. A bunch of new content just got released and they love it. In one story the main character, a very friendly bear, teaches that it is nice to play quietly inside the house but when you go outside you can be loud. 

So of course the moment the boys stepped outside at 8 this morning they marched down the steps to the driveway shouting, "Outside we can be LOUD!"

Which I am sure our neighbors super enjoyed.