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Still Full

Osamu announced at breakfast this morning that he wanted to go to Nobisuku, the kids' play area above the Izumi Chuo Library that we've been taking the boys to since they were babies. Well, since Osamu was a baby. Kenzo was already a toddler when we moved here.

Nobisuku is subsidized by the city government (free!) and staffed by a team of incredibly helpful ladies who you can talk to about raising small children. That place has been a lifesaver over the years. They even offer childcare when no neighbors or aunties are available.


But it's only for pre-elementary school-age kids. Elementary school kids are allowed under strict guidelines, but only if they're accompanying a younger sibling. Osamu has no younger sibling. In 50 days, he will no longer be allowed to play at Nobisuku. I think that might be one reason he suddenly declared his intention for the day... a little piece of his early childhood is coming to a close, and a big step awaits him in April when he suits up and gets inducted into elementary school.


We might have one more chance to visit Nobisuku, but I kinda think today was it. Osamu is ready to move on. The ladies were, as always, so nice. They asked about Ken-chan, said they're going to miss Osamu, and told him how happy they were to see what a big, kind boy he's becoming.

He did the rock climbing wall a bunch of times. Then, like old times, he went up to the reception desk, checked out a dinosaur puzzle, and told me he didn’t need any help solving it. Sometimes he called me over to play, and other times, he told me to go drink my coffee because he wanted to play by himself. I’m probably reading too much into it, but honestly, it felt kind of overwhelming. Like, deep down, he was letting go.

After about an hour and a half of nonstop play, Osamu told me he wanted to check out some books in the library. We spent about 30 minutes there. I walked around, casually watching him as he browsed the shelves and picked out three books to check out.

By then, it was already past noon, and I wanted to give Kenzo and mama as much quiet time as possible. So I told Osamu we'd grab lunch somewhere and maybe swing by the home center. Of course, he loved that idea. Between Jolly Pasta for lunch and the home center next door, we filled up the entire afternoon. We must’ve done at least four laps around Cainz Home. I love hanging out at the home center. Osamu loves the treadmills and the cats and dogs in the pet section in the back, oh and especially the hamsters. We also spent a good amount of time in the outdoor and camping area. When we got home, I went online to check when camping reservations for spring open up.


I ordered too much food. I thought Osamu was going to finish that pizza, but he only ate half of it. I had to skip dinner. As I write this at 11 o’clock at night, I’m still full from lunch.


Tonight at bathtime, I was telling tall tales about my younger days, and the boys were genuinely enthralled. Kenzo has been dealing with what he thinks is bullying at school. It’s not really bullying, just second graders being crazy, but to him it’s serious. Serious enough that he still needs mama to walk him to school every day. This has been going on for a few months now.

I’ve been sharing stories about how I dealt with bullies when I was little. Of course, I have to adjust the stories a bit because, in reality, I wasn’t great at handling bullies. But I tweak them so the boys, especially Kenzo, can gain some perspective and confidence, not just in dealing with bullies, but in handling all kinds of people they’ll meet in the world.

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