I have some catching up to do...

Back in September (hangs head in shame) I attended the swimming open house at Emi and Misaki's school. They are both swiming so well, actually that was one of the things that really surprised me during our summer vacation. Misaki spent more time under the water than on top of it!

All the first graders performed a song in the water. Misaki's in the middle there somewhere.

In between I went to the gym and checked out all the things that kids had made during their summer vacation. I had forgotten to take a pictures of Emi & Misaki's crafts so I was glad I had my camera with me.

Emi made this marble maze from a kit. It was a little complicated and about halfway through she had wanted to give up but she persevered and it turned out to be a really fun toy.


Misaki made this stage with paper dolls in it. We cut out clothes from leftover material I had lying around and glued them onthe paper dolls. We also glued the curtains and stage lights on, too. It was a lot of fun.


Then it was Emi's turn.




In these next pictures she was trying to pass to the next level. She had to swim 7m without stopping.




She made it to the 5m mark. She was supposed to swim all the way to the teacher. She was disappointed but I think she passed four levels this year so she was proud of that.


I'm so proud of my girlies!

darn the rain

Emi and Misaki's sports day got rained out this morning. Poo.

Thank the Lord for elementary school

The font needs to be bigger than this so you know how I really feel but...


Woo-hoo!!!


Emi and Misaki went back to school this morning and although today they only have classes until 10:30, it is still a wonderful feeling! Due to rainy weather, colds, ear infections and a general lack of space, the last few weeks and especially last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were almost torture, for all of us, not just me. Right now, Sakura and Natsuki are playing so quietly together that this morning feels positively heavenly.

Hooray for Back-To-School!

the last few weeks in pictures

First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. After reading all of the comments, I felt very encouraged and also a little relieved that this thing with Misaki can be overcome and it will pass. Maybe one day when she's a mommy and dealing with her little ones, she can come back here to be encouraged, too.

I haven't written much the last few weeks because we've been all over the place. There were a variety of national holidays and school events but from today everyone's schedules go back to normal and stay that way until summer vacation starts. I tried to take pictures along the way but I didn't always succeed so let's see what I've got.

First up, isn't Natsuki turning into a little girl. She had a growth spurt and she's jumping, running and talking up a storm. She's also fighting with her sisters and pulling their hair, etc., but then the next second she's smiling, dancing and singing so we've got quite the rollercoaster of emotions going on over here. I trimmed her hair in the back now that her bald spot has grown out and maybe that's what's contributed to the change in her look.



The first holiday that came up was just one Tuesday in the middle of the week at the end of April. I had decided to still teach my English classes that day so the night before, after dinner, we went out for ice cream and a walk. It was almost too cold so we took refuge in a Starbucks. The girls were on a sugar high from their ice cream and hyper since it was past their bedtime so on the whole, I'm not sure that going out was the best idea but we wanted to start off Golden Week with a little something special so in the end, I was glad we went out. Here's the girls hogging up all the comfy chairs at Starbucks.



The first weekend in May was the second half of our Golden Week vacation. My pastor's wife had asked if I would sing a solo with her gospel choir for the Takatsuki Jazz Street Festival so that was what we spent Saturday doing. This next picture is mostly for my mom.



Yes, that's me in the middle singing. The festival is really cool. They have over 40 different sites, some in parks, some in bars or restaurants, some at shopping centers and open-air shopping centers and then different jazz or gospel groups sign up to participate and are assigned an area and a time. Basically for two days you can just walk around this 1 square mile and listen to jazz or gospel all day long. We wish we could have taken more time but it wasn't really fair to the kids. I took this picture of Emi while we were having some ice cream (it was hot that day) and listening to a band. They played some Eric Clapton and some James Taylor so it's hard to say if they were trying to be jazz or rock. Anyways, I love this picture of her.



The next day was church and then in the afternoon we got together with one group of friends and then in the evening we got together with another group of friends. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time Sunday was over. We had planned to go to Kobe on Monday but the weather looked less than promising and everyone was so tired that I knew it would end up being not fun at all so we decided to take a relaxing day at home. This doesn't usually work because it's rare that all of us are tired enough on the same day but this day was perfect. Everyone slept until 9:30am (totally unheard of!) and then we all took a 3 hour nap and then everyone was back in bed again by 9pm. Even with all of that extra sleep, Natsuki fell asleep waiting for lunch (again, totally unheard of).




Tuesday was a family day spent with Chikara's parents going to visit Chikara's grandparents. We decided to meet early and have lunch and doing something fun before going to grandma and grandpa's house. My FIL knew of a lake that was on the way so after lunch at a restaurant (at which Natsuki screamed through the entire lunch because she wasn't allowed to hold her own drink - sigh...) so we stopped there. They had paddle boats so Emi and Misaki went out with my in-laws.



We waited at shore and I was less than thrilled to see Emi trying to climb out onto the front of the boat. There were no lifejackets and I didn't know how fast my in-laws would react so I was totally prepared to jump in and swim after them if something had happened. Sakura was totally OK with not going on the boat but I think Natsuki would've liked to go.



After that we headed to grandma and grandpa's house. Amazingly they were ready to go within 10 minutes of our arrival and we headed out to the one and only restaurant in our town that grandma will deign to go to. I've mentioned before some of her OCD tendancies and while we were getting our shoes back on I managed to take a picture of the entrance of their house and the hallway leading to the living room.





Do you see the newspaper taped down on the floor? Under the newspaper there is tissue so it's a little padded. The bottom picture where the blue slippers are is the entrance to the bathroom. I really wanted to get a picture of that but I didn't have the guts. Also, do you see the tissue stuffed into the slippers in both pictures? It's always like this. Although this trip was the first time that grandma praised grandpa for doing a good job with cleaning and laundry so he must be getting used to all of this.

Here's a picture of all of us (except me, the picture-taker) after we ate dinner.



I know that grandpa turned 80 this year so grandma must turn 80 later this year or next year. It seems, despite all of their complaints, that they are in good health. They polished off an a la cart dinner before I was even halfway through mine and they carried on conversations while giving orders to everyone. Fortunately Natsuki didn't scream through this meal. Well, actually she did but they were screams of joy and she thoroughly entertained both of them. I was worried that she might be too loud for them but all of the rest of us were tired so she really carried the entertainment all by herself!

We got home not too late but Emi and Misaki had school the next morning so we got everyone right into bed. I had been looking forward to Wednesday morning all week because Chikara had promised to clean the balcony for me. In an effort to prepare for cockroach season in the summer, I had really wanted to scrub the floor and walls of the main balcony of our house where I put out our laundry. Last year we had two cockroaches come in the house and we can only guess that they came from this balcony. All of the garbage has been moved down to the garage but just in case there were any leftover eggs or bits of garbage that would attract them, I had asked Chikara if he wouldn't mind cleaning it for me. He hates cockroaches just as much as I do so he was more than willing to tackle this project. This picture probably doesn't look like much so it's mostly for my mom who was here in February and can probably appreciate the difference.



Thank you Chikara!

From Thursday (last week now) everything went back to almost normal. Chikara had to go to work and the girls were in school but they were coming home an hour early each day because of parent/teacher conferences. There are two of these each year and the one in May is when the teacher comes and visits our house and the second one is in the fall (right?) and the parent goes to the school. Both Emi and Misaki's teachers were coming on Friday and I wasn't sure if they would just want to talk in the entrance of our house, which is what has happened in past years, or if these teachers would want to come upstairs. I couldn't decided how much to clean so in the end I took some extra time and cleaned up everything which is good because both teachers asked to come upstairs. Chikara was shocked but I knew from reading the blogs of other expat moms that this happens, too.

Both of the girl's teachers had really good things to say about my girls. I had been worried about Misaki and if she was paying attention or not but the teacher said that she was doing really good. Misaki's teacher also said that she was surprised at how good Misaki's writing had gotten in just a short time. I explained that after the first two days of homework, I noticed that Misaki wasn't writing *on* the lines but *around* them so I told her that probably the teacher wanted her to follow the lines to learn how to write her characters correctly so by the third day she had started doing it properly. Emi's teacher was totally fascinated by me, of course. I had actually been relieved to meet Misaki's teacher because she was very focused on Misaki but Emi's teacher was all, how did you meet you husband and where did you get married, etc. She also asked if we could possibly translate a song from English to Japanese for her to teach to the class. She was really sweet though and I don't think Emi cares if her teacher is focused on her or not so it seems like both of the girls are going to get on in their classes very well.

I had actually had a dream the night before they came that Misaki's teacher had showed up at 5am in the morning (instead of her 3:30pm scheduled time) and basically talked badly about everything I was doing. In the dream she was shocked that all the kids weren't up and dressed and I was trying to say that 5am is way too early, etc. When I woke up, I was in a bit of a panic and it took me a few minutes to orient myself. I was very relieved to meet both of the teachers and find out that they were very nice ladies. I hate it when my subconscious interferes with my sleep!!!

What else? Oh, we bought an airconditioner for Emi & Misaki's room and Natsuki and Sakura loved the box.



Also, this week Natsuki started playing with dolls. She's pretended to be interested when her sister's had played with their dolls before but this was the first time I saw her get out the dolls and accessories by herself and have imaginary play. It was so precious and she didn't even care that I was taking pictures. She kept saying, "baby, baby" and one time she said, very sternly, "NO". I wonder where she gets that from...





Since we didn't get to go to Kobe last Monday, we decided to go this Monday after the girls got home from school. My friend Abigail had her second baby on May 1st and we hadn't gotten a chance to visit them and since they live in Kobe, too, we decided to just make a day of it. We visited with Abigail first. When Natsuki saw the baby, she thought he was a doll and she wiped her hands on her shirt and held them out to me. She really totally expected me to hand him over. I did let her hold him later (with my help) and I think she was unprepared for the fact that he was real! I wish I could've captured the look on her face at that moment.

They named their son Joel, which is the name of my youngest brother and when I told Emi and Misaki that we were going to go and see him their immediate thought was, "Uncle Joel turned into a BABY!". Uhhhhhhhhh, no. I also told Abigail that my brother likes to be called Joel the Magnificent and it seems like they might just borrow that for their little Joel!

OK, I'm totally losing steam here so I'll write all about our Kobe adventures (including a visit to the new Ikea) later on.

bs

Did any of you other moms living in Japan have to do the bum sticker test this morning? And we get to do it tomorrow morning, too. Woo-hoo.

I don't even know what they're testing for. Sheesh...

how long will this last...

Last year I didn't create any kind of organizational system for all of the papers that Emi brought home everyday other than putting it all in one place in the closet in the living room. Although that worked well because it was easy, by the end of the year there was a pile a foot high of papers that didn't really require keeping. I just kept her school books in the same place and every morning we would take out the books she needed for the day and leave the rest on top of the pile of papers. This worked well until before Christmas when we lost her music book. I thought for sure that it got left at school but two weeks ago when I went through the pile I found it. Oops!

But last year's experiences did help me figure out what to expect this year and I am determined that all of the girl's books, papers and bags will be stored and organized in their room instead of my living room closet. I spent most of March looking at and contemplating storage units, boxes and filing systems but nothing really suited our specific needs. Although maybe if we bought a desk like every other first grader that would be the answer but there just isn't space for a desk (never mind two desks or four - yikes!).

After thinking about it for a whole month, I realized that I wasn't any closer to making a decision so I decided to go back to square one and write a list of what I needed to store and how often it needed to be accessed and then work from there.

School Books - need to be accessed every day as they bring different books depending on what classes they have.

Completed Homework - this is homework that has already been checked by the teacher and therefore serves no further purpose except to create a pile that I have emotional issues with (should I throw it out or not). Although they need to add to it everyday, I don't need to know what's in there.

Backpack - obviously they use it every day but different things need to go in there depending on the day and what they have scheduled so it needs to be easy to get to.

PE Clothes - once school really gets going they will take their PE clothes on Monday and then it home on Friday if they used it during the week. Then I just wash it on the weekend and they take it back again. But I also needed to have a place to store their extra shirts (long-sleeve and short-sleeve for different seasons). This doesn't need to be accessed all the time but we do need to know where it is!

Napkin, Hand Towel and Tissue - I had a crash course on napkins last year. I though napkins were paper napkins that they took each day but they're actually a 50cm x 50cm handkerchief that they put on their desk to protect it when they eat lunch. Last year Chikara had to rush out the night before and buy a few so that Emi had something to take the next day. I think most kids take a new napkin everyday but Emi and I decided that if it wasn't dirty then it could be used again so we go through 2 or 3 per week. The kids are also required to have a hand towel (for drying their hands after using the bathroom) and tissue in their bags but Emi has informed me that she "never" uses them. She just air dries her hands. But I try to make sure it's in their bags anyways. So obviously these items require easy access, too.

Book Bag - this is a separate bag that they take only when the teacher requests it, usually to bring back a whole bunch of extra stuff that won't fit in their regular school bag. They use it maybe once a month.

Other - last year we bought a painting set for Emi that is all neatly contained in a cool bag with a handle and shoulder strap. It hasn't been asked for yet so we're just keeping it at home. Also they both have a kenban harmonica that they will eventually need, too.

Backup School Supplies - both girls have a wide assortment of extra pencils, erasers and other supplies to be used as replacements in their pencil case if somethings gets lost or used up.

OK, I think that's it. The room is pretty small so I had to be creative but I think what I came up with should work pretty well.

I bought these plastic see-through containers to go under their beds.



They pull out easily from under the bed.



The front part of the lid flips up so they can have easy access to the front part so that's where I put their books, napkins etc. and backup supplies go in the front while their extra PE clothes are organized in the back portion.



I found these colorful trays at our local 100yen shop so everything doesn't slide around.



Their book bags and school bags (not pictured) hang on the end of their beds. These hooks don't fit securely on the board at the end so I'm still looking for something that I trust more. But for now it's good.



Underneath their bags is the other stuff that they'll eventually take to school. The pink bag is Emi's paint set and the yellow things are their kenban harmonica cases.



I put these two black trays in their closet to collect their homework but I don't really like it so I'm still looking for something that can tuck away out of sight. Hmmm...



I put these clear cases on the inside of their closet door to hold their school schedules so we can easily reference what they're supposed to be bringing everyday. Eventually they'll be writing in their renrakucho (a notebook for communication between parents and teachers) each day so we'll refer to that instead.


I really like it because it's all of the storage items I bought were able to tuck away into unused spaces. Because the room is small I'm trying to keep any floor space free and clear so the room feels bigger. So far this system is working well but we'll see how long it lasts....

I didn't really write much about how the walls turned out because they turned out great and I didn't have much to add. Repairing the hole in the wall tried all of my patience and I had to try a few different things until I felt it would be long-lasting so it was a great relief when it was finally finished. My FIL used to be an electrician so I asked him to come and replace all of the switches and outlets for me. I knew I could do it by myself but my in-laws had been totally uninterested in the project (even though the girls went on and on about it) so I wanted to include them somehow. Anyways, he came out one afternoon and switched them around and when I went into check them I saw this:



Can you see the line leading out from both sides near the bottom of the plate? When he was screwing in the backplate he did it too tightly (which is normal) and it moved back the piece of sheetrock that I had added there and now you can see a line even though before it was very smooth and impossible to know that there had ever been a hole there. I should've warned him to be careful but I'm new at this and I didn't think about it. I am very heartbroken and it's taking all of my willpower not to take it apart and do it again. Grrr! Oh well, I learned something for next time.

the beginning of a new school year

I have been looking forward to this last Monday for over a year now. Both Emi and Misaki are in elementary school together. No more trying to follow the schedules of two schools. This will only last for one year and then for the next 15 years I will have kids in at least two or more schools at one time. For example, next year Emi and Misaki will be in elementary school while Sakura will be in preschool and then the year that Natsuki finally becomes a first grader, Emi will go into junior high school. So not until the year that Sakura and Natsuki are both in high school will all my school age children be in one school again. And even after that there's still three more years to go. I'll be 50 when Natsuki finally graduates from high school. But that's looking waaaaaay too far into the future. For now I'm going to concentrate on this year of respite from "the schedules" and try to enjoy myself. I'd love to take on another DIY project, either the stairs and hallway leading up to the 3rd floor or Sakura & Natsuki's bedroom.

But my main goal for this year is to find a pace for our post baby-making lives. We've talked before about building a house but we're feeling more and more like we need to learn how to manage this life before we try to take it to the next level. I'm talking about household chores, ministry, community events (there's a lot of these), family, husband/wife relationship (dates? what's that?), budgets, work, teaching the kids English, etc. There are a lot of things that I feel we should be doing that we have put on the shelf each time we had another baby.

This Spring Break almost every afternoon I set aside one hour and worked with Emi and Misaki on their English reading and writing skills. The school that my dad is the principal of in Canada uses a great program called Spell to Write and Read. I've modified this program for my ESL classes and have found it to be very successful but I wanted to use the full program for my kids. Last year it was totally out of the question but this year it's a real possibility. I decided to jumpstart the program during Spring Break and then carry on throughout the year once or twice a week. Emi and Misaki already know their ABC's and can write most of them from memory so we started in on phonics and within one week they could read any 3-letter word I put in front of them. It was a good start and they participated wholeheartedly. When my mom visited two months ago she spent some time reading to the kids and Misaki especially was really interested in picking out and reading words that she knew. Anyways, I hope I can keep this up!

In preparation for the start of school I took Emi and Misaki to get their hair cut. I do not like the cut Emi got. It's not straight for starters. It looks good from the front or the back but definitely not from the side. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to take her back and get it fixed. She doesn't like it because it's shorter than she thought it would be and she cried for a whole hour after it was cut. I've taken the girls to the same salon for the past year and I've always like their cuts so I'm at a total loss as to why we got such bad service this time. I'm a little nervous to try again.

What do you think?


Yes, I took this picture without her permission. Yes, She'll freak out if she knows I posted it here!!!

On Monday was Misaki's ceremony for the start of school (Nyugakushiki). Compared to last year's experience with Emi, this year was a breeze. Misaki knew exactly what to expect so she just sailed around with a big smile on her face. Her favorite friend from preschool was in her class and sitting beside her. Kazuki-kun! If Misaki was a cartoon character her eyes would turn into little hearts everytime she says his name. He is a sweet boy and I can see why she likes him. He's exactly the same as her! They both tuned out everything that was going on and just fiddled with their clothes and stared around the room with big, huge, lighthearted smiles on their faces. Funny kids.

It was impossible to get a good picture during the ceremony. The weather was awful outside so there wasn't a lot of light inside the gymnasium. I tried different settings with my camera but nothing came out right. I like this picture anyways. This is Misaki and Kazuki-kun walking out at the end.


This picture is in their classroom as they were getting ready to go back to the gym for their class picture.


This picture it the best I could do under the weather conditions. You can see the cherry blossom tree a little bit in the corner.


The next morning we woke up early and met all of the other kids in our neighborhood to walk to school together. There are almost 60 boys and girls in our immediate neighborhood who are in elementary school and they are divided into "hans" led by an older student and then they walk to school with their group. I took a few pictures but Emi and Misaki wouldn't let me take a picture of them together outside and Misaki refused to smile. I'm not sure why.

Emi and her school

Someone asked me recently how Emi is doing at school and I've been meaning to write more about that so this is a good opportunity. Emi is doing great at school. It's hard to ask her about "everything" without being too obvious but it seems like she's enjoying herself.

I had a lot of worries before school started and it was mostly because I had no idea what to expect. Did Emi know enough going into first grade? Would I know what was going on? Did she have the right supplies? The questions went on and on and although I asked my neighborhood friends about a lot of it, I still felt unsure. It turns out that all my worrying was for nothing. For example, I wasn't sure how much Emi was supposed to know before she started school. She could write her name and she recognized most of the characters and could write about half of them from memory but I've heard so much about the pressure that is put on kids when they start school so I wasn't sure if it was enough. On the other hand I didn't want to put pressure on her either so me worrying about it seemed like the best option!

But they started the first week with the first letter of the hiragana alphabet and worked through all 50 characters over the next 3 months until summer vacation. Once they knew about half of the characters they started reading homework where they had to read 1-2 pages with us each night. They would read the exact same pages for about a week and then move onto something else. With math they started introducing numbers 1-5 over the course of a few weeks and then moved on to addition of sums up to 5 and then a few weeks later started with minus equations. Even now they are only studying up to number 9. I was very relieved at the pace at which everything was taught and at the amount and type of homework that was given. They really build upon what was taught before and I could see that Emi feels very confident doing it.

I also didn't know what the school and the teachers would be like. The school didn't look very appealing from the outside and I've never heard a good story about teachers in Japan. Ever. But in the first week of school they took the kids on a tour of the school so they would know where everything was and who was in charge of different areas like the library, nurses station and teacher's lounge and she came back from that day so excited about the school. Another thing that worried me was if she would be teased because she's half or even just because she's a little first grader but throughout the first month of school the first graders did a lot of activities with the sixth graders and I think this gave the kids a little self-confidence around the bigger kids. I felt like it was a good introduction to school, which is good since she has to go to one for the next 12 years!

We are noticing a change in her attitude though. She says "mendokusai" a lot with a little I'm-too-cool-for-you tone which we're not really thrilled about. I know she's not going to be a little girl for forever and that eventually she'll be a teenager and hate us and that there is a process from here to there but that doesn't mean I like it. Also we feel it's an attitude she's picking up and not something she actually feels so I'm trying to decide the best way to approach talking with her about it.

Otherwise we have been pleasantly surprised by how smoothly elementary school is going. I know just saying that is asking for trouble and we're only 1/4 of the way through the year and only 1\48 of the way through her whole school life but so far so good...

TGIF?

Friday was a busy day. I know I sound like a broken record, but lately it seems that everyday is busy in it's own way and yesterday was no different. On the menu for Friday, in addition to normal daily activities, was an open house at Emi's elementary school and an open house at Misaki's preschool. Fortunately, Chikara was able to get the day off, but he had work to do at home so he wasn't going to be able to go around with me, but he would be able to watch the younger two so I wouldn't have to take them with me. That in itself was a huge help.

So I got up with Emi at 7:20 and helped her get ready to be out the door by 7:55. Natsuki woke up in the middle of this so I also nursed and fed her during this time. At 8, everyone else got up and we had breakfast and then Misaki got ready for school. The two of us walked to the bus stop at 8:55 and just after 9, I was back home and the morning rush was over. Usually this is when I sit down with a cup of coffee and check my e-mail, but today I jumped into the shower in an effort to make myself presentable. I know this is not really necessary but since Natsuki was born I haven't been making much of an effort at all and knowing that is a chance to make a good first impression with a lot of people, I primped. A lot. I put on my fancy Mac make-up, straightened my hair, and spent more than 1 minute picking out my clothes! I should've taken a picture but there was no time.

At 10:40 I was out the door to go to the school with the other moms on my street. As I stepped out the door, they all looked at me in surprise. I didn't ask why but I'm sure they were surprised at my appearance. We walked to the school with our slippers in hand and me with my camera. Just me. My neighbor and I had been talking the day before and she told me that elementary school is different than preschool and that no one brings cameras. Hmm. Obviously that was some sort of big hint. I talked with Chikara and he said that there is too much peer pressure, even between parents, and that if I wanted to take my camera then I should go ahead.

We arrived at school in time for 3rd period and watched the teacher interact with the kids and teach them about the hiragana character "u". He was very energetic and the kids really responded to him. Before we knew it, time was up. All the kids went to watch a video while the teacher talked to the moms. He had to be nervous as there were at least 25 moms and just him. He started off by telling us a little bit about himself. He is 27! Chikara and I are 32 so he's 5 years younger than us. Wow. He has taught at this school for the last 3 years for the 3rd grade, 5th grade and now 1st grade. He told us that for the events they've had in the first two weeks that our kids have behaved appropriately. Cheering for the 5th & 6th graders when they put on a show for them, listening quietly during story time and following instructions when on a school tour. He told us his plan for the next year, etc. In the middle of this, I realized that it was time to pick up Misaki from the bus. I half-ran/half-walked (I am so out of shape!) and made it just on time. She came back to the school with me for the last part.

When it was finished, the three of us walked back home. I fed Natsuki and then left her with Daddy and took the other three to lunch at a local ramen store. As we sat down I realized that I have never ordered ramen by myself. I couldn't remember the name of the ramen I wanted or how to order gyoza so I did my best. The right food came so I guess it was OK. The girls were well behaved, which was good since I was already tired from the morning.

We were home by 2 and I put Sakura and Natsuki down for their afternoon nap. Emi went outside to play and Misaki and I went to the preschool for her open house. I had heard from a friend that the first part was really long and boring so I had planned to go a little late. This year the preschool has made a lot of changes. There is a new principal, a lot of new teachers and a new philosophy. All of it is OK, but one of the changes has me a bit confused. If we want to cancel school lunch for the kids we have to call two days before or we will be charged anyways. What are you supposed to do if you kids get sick suddenly? Do you still have to pay for lunch? Hmm. The only reason I went was to meet Misaki's teacher because she's new so after an hour-and-a-half of talking, they finally let us go to the classroom. Misaki's teacher seems really nice and mature (not old, but really together). She told us that one new thing they're going to do this year is work with the 3rd year kids on their characters. Also, the principal wants the teachers to help the kids work on their manners, especially how they ask questions and respond. This is going to be so good for Misaki. We've been working on this at home so it'll be nice that it is reinforced at school too.

During these two hours, we had to sit on the little chairs that the kids use. My butt hurt so bad and I was really glad when the whole thing was over. As I left I stopped to say "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" to the teacher and she told me I was *pretty*. Although I appreciate this since I spent time in the morning especially to make a good first impression, somehow I was also a little bit offended, although I'm not sure why. I had a strong urge to tell her that I was smart too.

I was home a bit after 4 and while I was nursing Natsuki, I told Chikara all about the day. As I was talking about Emi's teacher, I told Chikara that I really liked him and Misaki piped up and said, "Do you want to kiss him?". We all had a good laugh about that and I clarified that I liked him "as a teacher" for Emi.

By this time I was tired, too tired to make dinner so we went out to a restaurant near us for dinner. They have a new kid's menu so I had to take extra time to pick. One of the new menu items is a "Make Your Own Sandwich" plate for kids. I ordered three and the girls had fun making and eating their sandwiches. When we got home it was 7:30 and the kids were cranky and tired so we went right to getting ready for bed and by 8 all the girls were in their beds. I ran to the store to buy more diapers for Sakura, came home, nursed Natsuki and put her down to sleep. At 9, I made some popcorn, opened my Dr. Pepper and sat down to watch "The Core" on TV. I love Friday nights because they show movies in English on TV. I'm kind of at the mercy of whatever they pick but for the most part it's fairly entertaining which shows how low my standards have become!

It was lovely to fall into bed and I was out within 5 minutes. I had weird dreams about meeting the two comedians of Downtown and trying to take a picture with them. Very weird.

From Monday, Emi & Misaki will be starting school lunches and be in school until the afternoon. My house desperately needs attention and hopefully life will get back to normal, whatever that is!

daylight savings

Does anyone else besides me wish that we had Daylight Savings in Japan? It's only April and I'm already tired of it being light so early in the morning. Natsuki has been waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 am for the last few days, as opposed to her usual 8 am, and it's really having a toll on me. When I hear her crying and I look at the clock I can hardly believe the time.

After a few mornings of this, I put a blanket up over her window last night and this morning she slept in until 7:50. I don't know why it took me so long to remember this trick. I did the same thing with Sakura two summers ago and it worked great. Hopefully this will help Natsuki sleep until a normal time and let me get the couple more hours of sleep that I desperately need.

Emi is doing great in school. After the crying episode on Wednesday morning, I wasn't really sure what to expect from her, but there haven't been anymore problems. I really believe she cried because that was her last chance to try a little emotional blackmail on me!! She started having homework from yesterday and she was pretty excited about that. It was only one page of some hiragana writing but as soon as she came home, she whipped it out and completed the whole thing. I've heard that there is a big jump in the amount of homework from 1st grade to 2nd grade so my goal this year will be to create a healthy attitude towards homework that will hopefully carry her through the next few years.

I mentioned it before but each day the kids need to take different stuff to school so I've been checking each night and making sure all the right things are in Emi's bag and then go over it with her in the morning. It's all written in hiragana so I can read it and I felt like it was going really well, but yesterday when Emi came home, she told me that she couldn't participate in an activity in the gym because she didn't have her gym shoes. What!? I looked at the schedule again and it does not say gym shoes anywhere. I'm going to have to ask one of the other moms about this. Sigh... I thought it was going so well...

As far as I can tell, Misaki is enjoying preschool (she's in her kindergarten year). These first two weeks are only half days so once they get there, they do a couple things and then come right back home again. When I ask Misaki what she did each day, all I get is "I don't know" or "Nothing". This might be true, but I'm not really sure. On Friday, they have an open house type of thing so I'll go and meet her teacher and hopefully find out more about what she's doing each day.

Actually, I have to go to Emi's school on Friday, too, so that's going to be a busy day. Chikara's been taking a lot of days off lately and he doesn't think it's a good idea to take anymore so I'll be taking Sakura & Natsuki to the elementary school in the morning for an hour or so and then taking all the kids to the preschool in the afternoon. Needless to say, Wednesday and Thursday are going to be spent doing nothing so I can save all my energy for Friday. I'm pretty sure this is another reason why the birthrate is going down in Japan. It's really hard to attend everything that you're supposed to if you have more than two kids. I'm a little jealous of my neighbors who have their two kids in elementary school this year. Of course, they're not doing anything brilliant with their free time. Mostly they do laundry and cleaning. Once my kids are all in school, I am so going to be going out and/or getting together with friends as much as I can.

Sakura has been having an awesome time while her sisters are gone in the morning. Having some time to herself has brought back my happy little Sakura and this has made life a little bit easier too. On Sunday, when we went to church, my friend noticed the change in her instantly. Also, having time to herself on the weekdays helped her be able to handle Saturday, when everyone is home, a bit better. She doesn't do much during the mornings but she can do whatever she wants which is the key for her. I've got her home for at least two more years so it's good that she enjoys being here!

Next week Emi & Misaki have full school days. What will I do with all that time? The following week we are going to Tokyo to visit our friends for Golden Week so I have much to look forward to in the next couple of weeks.

and life goes on...

You know when you plan and look forward to an event or trip and when it is finally over you're not sure what to do next? I had that feeling Tuesday morning. But all the things still to be done came back to my mind quickly. Like my first English class in the afternoon. Yes, in the midst of everything, I am going back to teaching English one afternoon a week. I took a break last year a week before my due date. I thought I was being so clever to keep myself busy right up to my due date but Natsuki came two weeks late so I was bored out of my mind waiting for my labor to start. I actually wanted to be in pain, which has to be a first for me.

Anyhoo! I did take Emi to school Tuesday morning. After she was dressed and ate breakfast, we checked her school bag to make sure all the right things were in there, including her SpongeBob SquarePants handkerchief. Her school supplies have turned into such a mishmash of characters. We left the house around 7:55am and walked around the corner to the next street over to meet all the other 54 kids from our neighborhood who go to the same elementary school. Yes, 54 kids and 10 of them are in first grade. On Monday, everyone met 10 minutes earlier and divided up the kids into groups to walk to school. Each group has a 5th or 6th grader as a leader (hancho) with 4-5 other younger children to watch out for. On Tuesday, I met Emi's hancho and she led our group as we walked to school together. A couple of the other first grade girl's grandmas came and they were unbelievably annoying. One grandma asked questions nonstop from the moment she got there. I could tell the older girls didn't know what to say after awhile. Then another grandma, whose granddaughter is in our group, called out instructions to everyone as we walked to school. "Keep to the left, keep to the left, we're crossing, crossing, crossing, stop, stop, the light is green, hurry, hurry, RUN, RUN, STOP, STOP!". Like that, on and on. Emi kept looking at me with wide eyes. When we got to school, Emi changed into her inside shoes (uwagutsu) and another little girl was waiting for her and they walked to their class together.

I'm getting ahead of myself in order of events for this post, but today (which is the last day I go with her) when we arrived at the school and she had put her inside shoes on, she suddenly turned and started to cry. I was totally caught off guard by this. Emi's been wanting to go to elementary school since last year and before school started she was counting down the days. We've been getting reports from her about all the fun she's been having from the first two days so I just didn't see this coming. I tried giving her a hug and asking her why she's crying. I tried encouraging her about school and how much fun she will have today. I tried being a little bit stern with her but nothing seemed to calm her down. She was clinging to me and doing her quiet cry. One of her friends was waiting for her and seemed pretty concerned. Finally, a teacher came by and said I could go. I have no idea what happened after that and althought I was worried, I knew leaving was the best thing to do.

When it was time to pick her up, I waited to ask her teacher about how she was during the day. He said he hadn't seen her crying and that she was fine during all the classes. Then he said that maybe I should talk to her if I wanted to know more about it. I got the feeling that he thought I was babying her and I should *know* that we don't do that in elementary school. So I learned an important lesson there. I did talk to Emi about it when we got home and she seems like she understands that I can't go to school with her and that because she's a big girl she gets to go to elementary school so she needs to take responsibility like the big girl she is. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Sigh, there's always something, isn't there!?

Back to my English class, I was tired before I went and I wasn't really sure how it was going to go. Some students are new and some I've taught before. Also, I hadn't really had a chance to get out my materials so I planned to review and see what everyone remembered. I was a little nervous before I started but everything went really well. I forgot how much teaching energizes me. This year the class balance is very good. There are 8 kids in the beginner class, 4 kids in the second level class who I taught before so they're all at the same level, and 2 in the third level class. At the end of the class all the moms gave me a some presents for my girls which was really nice.

Chikara watched all the kids while I was gone and will continue to do so every Tuesday afternoon. I wrote out a schedule for each of our kids with detailed instructions for him. He is very good with helping out all the time but left by himself with the girls, he tends to forget what's coming next and then the whole evening gets off track. I once left Emi & Misaki with him for ten days while Sakura and I went back to Canada to do some shopping when I was almost 7 months pregnant with Natsuki. All three of them were alive and well when I came back so obviously he can handle a few hours each week.

Another thing I like about teaching English is being able to take a break from being "Mommy" for a bit. I really appreciate the girls more when I get back. Also it gives me a chance to be "Sarah" and regain a little bit of personal identity. I don't know about you, but I find that my identity as a woman is always connected to someone else. Like Chikara's wife or Emi' mommy or Alynne's daughter. I like all these people so it's okay, but sometimes I forget who I am personally so it's nice to have this opportunity every week to be me, apart from everyone else.

Tomorrow I *need* to tackle the house. It has gotten totally out of control and we're almost out of clean clothes. The weather is supposed to be good tomorrow and then it might rain for a couple of days so tomorrow is do or die!

what can I say...

Well, we survived the weekend. I can honestly say that as a family we've never been this busy before.

After all the pressure I felt when buying Emi's school supplies last week, part of me (albeit a small part) didn't really want to go to the Nyugakushiki or even send Emi to elementary school at all. Like if I didn't go, then it wouldn't happen. There has been so much talk on the news of bullying at school (ijime) and everyone knows that there is so much pressure on kids in Japan to perform well in school. I really want the best for my kids and because I wasn't raised here I really have no idea what that would be.

Also, sending Emi to elementary school means that I will be stretched a little bit more with my organization and my Japanese and I feel like I've had enough of that. But time marches on and my experience in the past is that it's just better to accept what's coming and find a way to make things smooth and fun for my family (and me!).

Now that I have prefaced this post with all of my concerns, I can say that all (well, maybe most) of my concerns were swept away at the Nyugakushiki. Everything was perfect, even the weather. The sakura trees were in full bloom, we all had the proper attire, we were ready on time (a small miracle) and Emi was really excited. Chikara had worked all morning and when were ready to go, he still needed to get ready, but that worked out perfectly because Natsuki was able to take a little nap and then Chikara brought her when he was ready. Even with only 45 min. of sleep, instead of the usual 2 hrs, she is a much happier baby.

When we got to the school, we received the class list and I was relieved to see that my neighbor's son is in the same class as Emi. She was very helpful with preschool stuff and I had prayed that they would be in the same class. Then as we were taking off our shoes to go in, a lady spied us and said "Yokatta" (Yeah!). I wasn't sure what she was talking about but it turns out that her daughter (who went to the same preschool) had been hoping all Spring Break that she would be in the same class as Emi and the mom was relieved that it had worked out. Even after these first five minutes, I was already encouraged.

We went in and checked her name off and a 6th grader took Emi off to her class and we (me, my MIL, Sakura and Misaki) went into the gymnasium. We were one of the first and we found a seat near where Emi would be seated. The lady who spoken to me when we first came in was beside us and we chatted for a little bit. The gym started to fill up and Chikara came with Natsuki and I started to wonder how Emi was doing and how long the ceremony would be. The chairs in the gym were set up in a square with a big open part in the middle. The 1st graders would sit facing the 6th graders and then perpendicular to that parents and teachers sat on both sides.

Then the ceremony started and the three 1st grade classes marched in 2 by 2 holding hands. They looked so small compared to all the 6th graders and adults. Since our name starts with I, in the Japanese alphabet it comes near the beginning, so Emi was sitting in the front row. Unfortunately, it was about this time my camera battery died. The principal and local community leader spoke for a bit and different 6th graders made certain announcements throughout. Then the 2nd graders came in and sang a few songs and did a little speech about all the fun the 1st graders would have throughout the year. Then they announced the teachers for each of the classes and when they announced the teacher for Emi's class, all the 6th graders whooped and yelled. At the time, we had no idea why. The ceremony went on for about an hour (not too long) and then as the 1st graders paraded out, the 6th graders played a song on recorders. It was all very sweet.

Each class went outside and took a class picture and then proceeded, with all the parents in tow, to their classroom. The teacher spoke to the kids for a bit. He introduced himself and used different things to help the kids remember his name. For example, part of his name is "bara" so he brought out a rose, which is "bara" in Japanese, so the kids would be able to remember by association. Chikara was totally impressed. I've mentioned before that he didn't really have a good elementary school experience but he was immediately taken with this teacher who was so nice to the kids. Last year this teacher taught 5th grade and it seems he was well liked since all the 6th graders screamed when his name was called. Then the teacher spoke to the parents for a bit. I don't really remember what he said, which shows how low my memory retention has become. But we were really encouraged after meeting the teacher and being able to see a little bit about what Emi would be experiencing this year.

The whole thing was over within 2 hours which has to be a record for any ceremony I've been to in Japan. We went outside and our very patient neighbors took pictures of us with their camera beside the sign that said "Congratulations" and the sakura trees. Emi really enjoyed herself and knew many of the kids that were in her class and both Chikara and I were reassured about the choices we have made for our kids.

Even though there were still things to do, we went out to lunch. When we got back, Chikara took his mom back home and went to work. As he was leaving, I was trying to change Natsuki's diaper so I could put her down for a nap. When I was in the middle of that, something happened with Sakura, and I turned away without putting Natsuki's new diaper on. When I turned back to her, she was peeing all over the couch and the older three girls were yelling about something. All the stress I had been feeling bubbled over and I yelled at the older three to be quiet. I finished Natsuki's diaper and put her down, took the soaked sofa cushion outside and told the girls to give me a few minutes. I hate it when I yell at the kids, even when it is necessary, especially after they were so well-behaved throughout the whole morning. Sigh...

Saturday, again, was spent keeping the kids on course, but Saturday night I pulled out the Easter candy I bought last month and put little chocolate eggs in little plastic eggs and then hid them around the living room. On Sunday morning, the girls searched for the eggs and I have to say that although they were excited about finding the eggs so they could eat the chocolate, they were a little lame at actually *searching* for the eggs. They would take turns meandering around and then looking at me and saying "I don't know were they are". Duh, of course you don't know, that's why you're supposed to search. Sigh. Maybe next year will be better. They were really excited about the chocolate so I let them eat two eggs worth of chocolate.

In the midst of the ensuing sugar rush, we got ready and went to church. Chikara and I, along with some other members of the music team, sang "How Great Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin, translated into Japanese by Chikara, as a special song and Chikara was leading worship so we had to be there early. Chikara was in a rush and on the way to church, I asked him, as a joke, if I could stop at the convenience store. He was not amused! The service was great and after lunch, the children's church workers had an Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids of the church and their friends. After they found eggs, they colored and decorated them. At one point, Emi put her fingers in the bowl of pink dye and her fingers were stained pink.

At around 5, we left church and called Chikara's parents since we were supposed to have dinner them for my MIL's birthday. I had realized at church that I hadn't bought new sneakers for the girls for school so we stopped at the mall to get some. During this time I started to feel sick. I asked Chikara if we could postpone mom's birthday but he didn't think it was a good idea. After we bought the shoes and proceeded to the restaurant, I started to feel more sick. I tried my best to enjoy the evening, but I could hardly eat. Natsuki was being difficult since she hadn't eaten very well all day. I used her as an excuse and went out to the car to nurse her.

We all went back to our house, even though it was a complete mess, to have cake and coffee. Yes, I gave the girls cake right before bed, even though it was late and Emi & Misaki had a big day the next morning. There was no other choice. At the earliest opportunity they were down to sleep and we spent a little more time talking with Chikara's parents. Once they left, I realized that I had a fever and I was not doing well. My husband spent the next few hours making sure all of the girls things were ready for the next day. He spent most of that time writing Emi's name on her school supplies.

One thing that I learned from this process is that at elementary school, the kids need to bring different things to school and back home each day. Perfect. One more thing to keep track of. Fortunately they write everything in hiragana which Emi can read so my goal will be to get her to a point where she can organize her things by herself without too much help from me. There is so much stuff that we'll have to prepare a place for her to keep the stuff she doesn't need to take. At preschool we have the same type of program, but each week is pretty much the same so once you get the hang of it, it's easy to remember. Seems like elementary school is not the same.

Now we're up to today when we'll see if all the preparation we've done is enough. We woke up just after seven to get Emi up and ready on time, but she was already awake, of course. She changed into the clothes she had picked out the night before and had breakfast. Chikara took her at 7:45 to the meeting spot for our neighborhood. All the kids and parents of the 1st graders walked to the school together. We have to take her to school and pick her up for the first three days and then after that she will go to school with all the neighborhood kids and then come home with any kids who are done with school when she is. I am thankful that our school is close. Some 1st graders take a train *by themselves* to go to school and come back home. I don't think I could handle that.

At 8, we woke up Misaki and Sakura. Misaki got ready for school. Her bus comes around 9 so she will have a nice relaxed morning all year, which will be good for her temperament. She's not a morning person! While Misaki was getting ready, Sakura kept saying "I'm going to elementary school". She was very disappointed when only Misaki and I went out the door. After coming back home, I was exhausted. Natsuki, who hadn't eaten very well on Sunday, woke up at 2:30am, so I woke up and nursed her, and then again at 6:30am, when I ignored her until 7:00. Also I was still not feeling well so I went back to sleep for awhile. Natsuki was already back in bed for her morning nap so Chikara only had to watch Sakura.

When Emi came home, she willing shared about her day. They learned aisatsu (greetings), which was mentioned at the Nyugakushiki at least 5 times along with signs everywhere saying "Let's Do Greetings Happily", where the bathrooms are and about where all their stuff goes. I was relieved to hear the girl beside her and the girl in front of her had the exact same pencils. She really enjoyed herself. Misaki also had a good day. She has a new teacher who's name is also Misaki, which she thought was cool.

I think the climax of the weekend for me was tonight. The older three girls were already in bed and I had sent Chikara off, too. I had just finished nursing Natsuki and changing her diaper to get her ready for bed. As I stood up to burp her, she started choking on some phlegm (she's had a cold) and suddenly she threw up all over me. I was silent for a moment and then I laughed out loud because it was so typical of the youngest child to have the last say. Chikara had to come down and hold her while I mopped everything up. I hope she sleeps well tonight!

Other than that debacle, it seems like all of our hard work has paid off. For me, it's been quite an emotional ride, which is probably why I've been sick sometimes. Fortunately, the girls have a very positive attitude towards school so their enthusiasm pushes us along. As a mom, it's hard to watch my kids grow up and move on without me. It's what we've been working towards but when it actually happens, it is an emotional time.

A new step has been taken by our family and it will be fun to see where it takes us. I know this was long, so thank you for reading to the end!