mom life

Last time I posted was all about the kids going to school.  So I'll give a little update.  G says there are some very hard aspects to school, but she is doing amazingly awesome.  She is at such an adaptable age and contains all of the attributes that schools want in their pupils.  She can sit still for long periods of time, she is always eager to learn, she works sooo hard, and is also a rule follower.  She said all of the girls in her class are her friends and most recently has started giving them all piggy back rides.  She said one girl insisted to give a ride to her, and G didn't want to since she is so much taller than the other kids.  The girl insisted so G tried and crushed the girl! (nobody was hurt so it's ok to laugh)  G also told me that the girl next to her plays with her hair for long periods of time even when G is trying to do her work.  This cracks G up.  G has enjoyed almost all of the school lunches even though they are things we have definitely never eaten before.  She does talk about how hard it is not to understand what is happening, but I know she'll get through it'll be great!

Little Buddy on the other hand is at such a tough age.  It's not as easy to make friends and the level of vocabulary used in school for him is pretty much impossible to catch up with.  He also says that most kids go to library during recess and so he can't even use his dodgeball skills to fit in.  (Study for Japanese kids this age starts to get pretty intense.)  He is trying very hard, but comes home pretty wrecked every day.  It doesn't help that most days he goes until 3:50.  We told him he has to try hard for a month and then if it is still terrible we will consider other options.  The main one being having his day shortened.  I feel really bad for Little Buddy right now.

So are you wondering what I do with my days now that the kids started school?!  It feels so good to get some freedom and time to my own self right now!!  Most of my day is spent cleaning and shopping.  My chores take forever here.  Every day I do laundry and hang it outside on the balcony that is between the kids' bedrooms.  Luckily I already hung my laundry out so this wasn't too crazy an idea for me.  We make a lot of laundry because Husband and I run together and then also we get so sweaty that there is no way anything can be worn more than once.  But since it's so hot things dry sooo fast outside!

This is the current state of our downstairs.  I have to vacuum every day because of the white floors.  They look pretty but I guarantee I'm never putting white floors in any house.  I've been shedding my undercoat (do humans do that like dogs?), so you can see my hairs everywhere.  Gross!

Ok.  So it turns out I don't feel like talking about my chores because it sounds like whining.  When actually I've totally accepted it and just do it.  But let's just say it takes up a large portion of my day.  I also grocery shop more often here since spaces are small and actually portions of food sold in stores is small.  I am enjoying this chore a ton more since I have a bike and can also do it without the kids.

We are also still trying to get things settled here so there is usually some appointment or another that I need to handle.  And then I look forward to the kids coming home!  We've started letting G walk by herself (or with her Kiwi friend who is also in second grade).  It's pretty far and yesterday it took her a looong time to come home and I got pretty nervous, but she was fine!

Yummy after school snack!

B hurt his finger last week at rugby.  By that evening we were pretty sure it wasn't broken, but the head of the rugby program asked us to get x-rays to be sure.  So, we got to find out how they do x-rays here in Japan! B said they didn't have him wear a lead vest?!  B is still excited for practice Sunday.  And we've invited one of his teammates over to play in the afternoon.  I hope they have fun!!