Three Sundays ago we went and visited Chikara's grandparents (my first visit since Grandpa was hospitalized) because it was Respect for the Aged Day. We compromised and took them out of dinner and did not go in their house because then Grandma doesn't have to worry about "cleaning" the house. We were really watching them to see how they were doing and although they moved slower, they both finished off a whole steak dinner! Each! I guess they're fine.
The following Sunday (two Sundays ago) we went to visit Chikara's Great-Grandmother. She would be our children's great-great-grandmother. I've never met her before and Chikara hasn't seen her since junior high school (he thinks!). I wasn't sure what to expect so I gave the girls a serious talk about being quiet and listening and obeying right away before we went in. We were guessing that she was in her late 90's but actually she turned 100 years old this last May. She even got a Certificate from the Prime Minister of Japan and a plaque.
Amazingly, she came out to the entrace of the house to greet us and then showed us to their living room, talked up a storm, said funny stuff (and laughed at her own jokes), interacted with the girls, etc. Probably if you met her you would assume that she's in her late 70's because she moves so well and is so mentally alert. She lives with her son and daughter-in-law and they got married later in life so their children are the same age as us and they have one grandchild who is 3 years old. It was great because there were a lot of things for us to talk about. I was really glad that we had made the effort to visit her.
One thing that we noticed about her is that she was really positive. Hardly any negative comments came out of her mouth and we could only surmise that this is part of the reason why she's made it to 100!
The Thursday after that, the girls got lice. We received a call from Misaki's preschool in the morning that she had lice and they were going to send her home so we could de-louse her and the moment we got that call my mind went blank. I didn't know what to do and "shampoo" was the only word that kept bouncing around inside my head. Every sentence I said had the word "shampoo" in it. Then I realized I should check Sakura (Natsuki was sleeping) but I realized that I didn't know what I was looking for so I went straight upstairs and tore all the sheets off of Misaki's bed and threw all of her bed linens in the washing machine. Once she was home, I compared her head with Sakura's and she had it, too. This could only mean that all of my kids had it so I sent Chikara to buy the de-lousing shampoo and to get Emi from school. I spent the next two hours in the bathroom shampooing and combing their hair. Once I was done we discovered that Chikara was the only one who didn't get it. Yes, I had it, too. So I washed all of our bed linens in turn throughout the day and read a lot about lice online until I had more of a grip on what I needed to do to irradicate it from our house. Tonight was the last scheduled shampoo and all of us were lice-free but I will keep checking everytime we take a shower for the next month just to be sure. I guess this is lice-season. This was the first time I swore in front of my kids, too. Sigh...
This last Sunday was supposed to be Emi's sports day but it rained so we had it today and then Misaki's sports day will be tomorrow. I would like to insert here that last year Misaki got mumps the week before sports day and it cleared up just in time for her to participate and this year she got lice the week before sports day and it cleared up right before sports day, too. I wonder what she'll get next year.
There's a lot of other things we did throughout the last three weeks, like for example, I started a group for stay-at-home moms that go to my church. I did the whole thing in Japanese, even leading worship from the piano. I think it went well. I'm going to do it for three months and if everyone thinks that it's worthwhile then I'll continue doing it until I'm not a stay-at-home mom anymore! Also, Sakura is potty-trained and Natsuki learned how to crawl off the couch by herself and those two things have made my life a little bit easier.
Hopefully I'll be able to fill in some more details once this next weekend is over.
7 comments:
I am SO sorry about the lice, Sarah! I'm sure as a mother my day will come. So far, I've avoided lice my entire life. I'm not looking forward to it! Well, I just heard the Canadian geese flying over our house. I guess that means that fall really is here! --Karli
You will have a whole new respect for the adjective lousy, as in "this lousy shampoo"! For example, if you feel like you are having a lousy day, you will remember the day you had an actually lousy day de-lousing your house, your children, and yourself, and then it won't seem so lousy anymore!
PS. Do you think this thought was cheerful enough to get me to live to be 100? I love you, baby....
Don't worry -- I think lice would be enough to make anybody swear.
I got them in college from a church I went to where all the kids had it, and guess what? I got it again a few weeks later! It was such a bummer, and all the girls on the hall in my dorm were freaked out that they were gonna get it, too. I kept having to wash my clothes, throw rugs, sheets, bedspread, and you know those college dorm washers where you have to insert 75 cents for each load? Yep, I had to get a ton of quarters for that. (Probably these days it's way more than 75 cents a load, but then I thought it was a lot of money.)
Wow, the great-grandma looks really young in the photo. Can't see a 100 yr old woman in there.
Lice - think of it as a rite of passage! I think my day will come as my kids are in daycare.
Take care!
Yep, we've just had the lice too. It's definitely the peak season, as the kids all go back to school and kindergarten. I hate, hate, hate the little blighters! This was our second time around, though, so I'm a bit more laid-back about the whole thing. From talking to other mothers, it seems they're pretty much endemic in Kei's elementary school at least, so like you I'll be combing every week from now on to make sure they haven't come back.
Congratulations on the potty training!
Congrats on the potty training sucess!!!
And yikes about the lice. But I suppose it's inevitable for school aged kids getting it, huh? Ha ha ha. I have never had it though, not sure how I escaped not ever getting it.
My boys haven't gotten it yet. But I say the *yet* part with a huge grain of salt because I bet it will go around our school eventually too. And they probably will get it at one time or other. Sigh, ha ha ha. Knocks of wood though, just in case : )
Wow! What a week! I know who to go to for advice, now, if we ever get lice!
Glad you got to meet and see some of your husband's family.
Congrats on the potty training to Sakura!
Take care! Kim
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