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Mama Can Read Too

Osamu slept from 15:00 yesterday to after 5:30 this morning. Close to fifteen hours. 

I should do that sometime. I used to, and it was great. He needs it more than I do, though. He's the one who's growing.

He brought home some art he made at kindergarten today. Apparently his class made washi, an old fashioned kind of Japanese paper, and painted them with watercolors. Osamu did these all by himself. I'm kinda impressed. I don't think I could make something as aesthetically pleasing. 



It rained all day, and it was Kenzo's second day of regular school schedule, plus he had Friends Club and had to catch the bus at 16:00. But by 15:15, way past when he should've been home, Eri grabbed her umbrella and went out looking for him, walking first up the street to the school where Kenzo is supposed to be walking. Taking alternative routes home is not allowed.

Eri got all the way to elementary school, but no Kenzo. She called me to see if he was home. Not yet.

Eventually, of course, he arrived home. Eri was still out. Kenzo knew when he walked in the door, even before I got downstairs to greet him, that he was probably in a little trouble.

Eri got home soon after and she was wet from the knees down after walking in the rain, and she was not happy. She and Kenzo had a talk. I observed as long as I could before I had to get back to my desk. 

He's learning. It's a process. When he does stuff like wandering off with his friends on his way from school I know it's not because he's intentionally trying to be "bad." He's just a little boy who is extremely curious about everything and lives in the moment, for better or worse. When his friend says hey let's go over here and look at this he goes because he's excited and happy. I don't want to squash that happiness and curiosity, but it's gotta be balanced with following the proper rules and expectations. For his safety and for his mental growth.

Kenzo, if you are reading this and it's years and years later, I hope you realize that mama and papa were doing their best to help you become an awesome person.

Today was library day, so Kenzo borrowed a book from the school library. They don't have English books, but he found a Japanese version of one of the books in a series we love - Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. This one was new to all of us. I looked it up on Amazon and I think the English version may be arriving at our house soon.


Eri did story time tonight. When the boys want a Japanese book she usually reads. She reads more smoothly than me. Obviously. Plus I hog story time all the time and it's good for the boys to know that mama can read books too, even though she's not as excited about it as I am. I'm the one who went drama school. She studied business and computers. I think the balance is good for the boys.

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