onacliffbythesea

This week I was informed that Miyu will be needing a flag by Friday, which is tomorrow. Her hoikuen provided the paper for the flag and we have been entasked with creating a design with the theme of “Autumn Fruits”. So I gathered all of our arts and crafts materials and here I am on the dining table, wishing I had double-sided tape, and wondering what the hell to draw!

Ken had looked at me last night, grinning, and said, “Well since I’m the artist of the family, I guess I’ll just take care of this.” I responded with a perfunctory roll of my eyes.

I’m guessing this flag will be used for her upcoming field day on October 21 where Ken and I will be participating. That thought helps motivate me to make her flag stand out. But it’s 7:20PM and the clock is ticking. Will I be able to tackle this without letting my perfectionist side take over? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Update: 9: 25PM

When I was a child, I was never taught to do my own chores. Despite working full time, my mother always washed the dishes and did the laundry. My parents sort of had an agreement that my dad would be the cook and he would be the one to clean and maintain the car and mow the lawn, while my mom would do everything else around the house. Even during my teen years, my mom did my laundry. It was only during tenth grade when she finally asked me to do my own laundry, and even then she would still do it most of the time.

Because I was, essentially, never taught to clean after myself, it was an overwhelming experience for me when I came to live in Japan.

I don’t want what happened with me to happen to my daughter. I want her to understand, from this early age, that house chores are an everyday thing. With the right attitude, they can even be fun. I want her to grow up and realize that a woman shouldn’t have to bear all the house chores just because she’s a woman. I want her to see that the entire family should be involved in maintaining a happy home because, well…that’s my philosophy and I think it’s a fair one.

I took a picture of Miyu today helping us with the trash. Our (Japanese) neighbor was surprised to see that she was helping us carry a few bags. When we got to the trash shed, I was shocked to see that Miyu had remembered from our last time throwing the trash. She already knew where to put the pet bottles! So now, whenever it’s trash day (or night), we’ll be giving her the pet bottle bag and Ken and I will do everything else. 🙂

Dear Miyu Alexandra,

I now leave the fate of our houseplants in your hands, for their survival may very well depend on your most eager and diligent stewardship.

All the best,
Mommybear

She saw that I was doing the laundry, ran to the laundry basket and grabbed all her shirts, got a chair so she can reach the hangers, and voila. My little helper strikes again!

Later she helped me load the last load into the washing machine and she became upset when I told her that we wouldn’t start the machine until after we wake up from our nap. She was eager to push the buttons, that’s why. 🙂