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Not So Much

When all the kids were gathering in front of our house to go to school, I told Eito-kun that I used his method of gathering up bugs for the lizards to eat and it totally worked. 

However, some confusion arose because I was using adult speak in Japanese and the poor kid had no idea what I was talking about. He's in second grade. His mom said kinda jokingly I should just tell him in English. She actually has said to me more than once that she would like me and Kenzo to talk with Eito only in English. Last weekend I regaled her with my pseudo-knowledge about language acquisition and I think I may have riled her up. She really wants her kids to learn English, but I wonder if she's the "must pass the proficiency test" kind of mom or the "must be able to communicate your ideas confidently" kind of mom.

We shall see.

Kenzo has homework now. 

I have thoughts about homework, but this homework looks good to me so far. Kenzo is supposed to read a passage from his language studies book and either Eri or I are supposed to approve that it was done and done well with a signature or stamp on his homework sheet.

Eri tried to take a video today but Kenzo wasn't having it.


The rain we were expecting didn't really materialize, so Hidekazu came over after school and Eri explained to the boys what she and I had been discussing as far as introductory rules and expectations; namely, you guys can go play at designated places like 1-Chome Park, the community center, or 3-Chome Park, and be back at the time mama and papa say.

And with that, they were off to catch bugs and run amok. I happened to catch the boys before they took off and I reminded them to look both ways and walk nicely in the street. Hidekazu confidently assured me that he always follows the traffic safety rules and started listing them off to me.

About 40 minutes later it started raining and the boys weren't coming back. From my desk I could hear them down at the park, but after a while I couldn't. 

They told Eri they would be at 1-Chome Park but when she went down there to bring umbrellas and advise them to go inside they were nowhere to be seen. So she went looking for them and it turned out they had taken shelter from the rain at Hidekazu's house.

Luckily this little wild goose chase opened up an opportunity for Eri to talk with Hidekazu's mom and even text her a few ideas about what we expect and what rules we have set for Kenzo. Not that they have to abide by our rules, but they need to communicate to their son that Kenzo has to follow the rules of our house just like he has to follow the rules of his house (assuming they have rules).

By evening Eri was completely wiped out. The boys, not so much.


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