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Vicks VapoRub

Eri's at the dining table working on her laptop. No sewing tonight. She spent most of the day on her sewing machine so she's pretty tired. Now she's doing recordkeeping of her sales and responding to potential buyers. It's the busy season for her. The kindergarten bags she makes are pretty popular.

I'm watching her from the living room heated carpet while reading. I've always got a few books going at the same time. This week I'm back on a particular Japanese grammar book I like and the other is The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier. So far it's a good read. I'm picking up some tips on how to form better communication habits. The advice that stands out most to me right now is, "Ask one question at a time." I've had so many interactions, in meetings or workshops or in coaching sessions, where I ask a question that has too many tentacles and the other person ends up confused and asks me what the questions was. Ask one clear question, get a reply, then rinse and repeat. For me it's easier said than done but luckily in my work and in my personal life I have plenty of opportunities to practice and get better.

Kenzo came downstairs to get a drink of water around 21:30. He does that pretty frequently. He tends to stare at the clock from his top bunk and not fall asleep and then decides he should take a trip downstairs to see what mama and papa are up to. He got a cup of water and came over and sat in my lap. His eyes were pretty sleepy but he had that mischievous glow on his face.

He asked me what I was reading so I showed him my book. He said there are no pictures and I replied that's because it's a book for papas. Kenzo said he wants to read papa books and I told him when he gets a little bigger and reads more books with papa every night before bed he'll be able to read papa books.

Osamu officially got diagnosed by our ENT doctor with a pollen allergy. That explains his constant runny nose as the dry wind picked up recently. I just thought it was because he's four years old and that's standard.

When I've been tucking Osamu in the last few nights I'm following Eri's lead and rubbing Vicks VapoRub on his chest. It works like a charm. Plus he loves it. I can't understand why, though. When I was little I dreaded the Vicks, even though I knew it was gonna help me sleep. Osamu is generally up for whatever, though. He's an infamous tantrum-thrower, but he's also as agreeable as a four-year-old boy gets.

Rubbing Vicks VapoRub on the boys at bedtime triggers a crazy emotion in me. My mom and my grandma did that for me. Now I'm doing it for my boys. This nostalgic moment is brought to you by Procter & Gamble.

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