My Lunchbox Diary XXI

My Lunchbox Diary XX

My Lunchbox Diary XIX

My Lunchbox Diary XVIII

My Lunchbox Diary XVII

My Lunchbox Diary XVI

T refused to enter the kindergarten this morning. He exercised his right of civil disobedience right in front of the gate. A teacher came to fetch him, and he started crying. He did something similar last Wednesday. On both days, I was the one to deposit and collect him. Although I understood that it was just a childish tantrum, I cannot help imagining that he did it to upset me on purpose.

LEGO: Thou shall not enter.

My Lunchbox Diary XV

I seriously think that I am running short of ideas for T’s lunchbox, and there are still more than 2 years to go in the kindergarten.

My Lunchbox Diary XIV

Somehow I felt that I had run out of ideas for lunchbox.

My Lunchbox Diary XII

It’s been almost 2 months since my last update.

My Lunchbox Diary XIII

I seemed to have forgotten most of what I had prepared for T’s lunchbox. Looking at the pictures surprised me with, for instance, repetition of dishes and the types of ingredients that I chose.

My Lunchbox Diary XI

When T was smaller, he used to like curry,

My Lunchbox Diary X

Another hectic week was over. I even forgot to take photos of 2 lunchboxes last week.

My Lunchbox Diary IX

Garden in the rainy season

Hydrangeas ease the weight of the wet season.

My Lunchbox Diary VIII

Just when I thought that everything had gone well and we would be able to make it to the march at 8:30 in the morning,

My Lunchbox Diary VII

As the kindergarten requires,

My Lunchbox Diary VI

T seems to have entered another period of rebellion especially because he is getting better at articulating his preferences. He does not like taking bath, brushing teeth, going to the kindergarten, etc. Nor does he like rice or vegetables. There is a long string of things against which he would protest everyday.

My Lunchbox Diary V

Veggies and Kansai-style pancake (small fish and cabbage)

I have been quite busy in the past 10 days, especially K was absent for his work. From some point last week, lunchbox has become an everyday routine in the kindergarten, and it is getting a bit difficult to track them if I miss a day or two on blogger.

My Lunchbox Diary IV

Steamed pumpkin, tomato, pineapple, chicken nugget rice balls and broccolis

My Lunchbox Diary III

Salmon rice ball; orange + tomato, steamed yam coated with almond flakes, chicken nuggets, rice covered with crab and egg sauce. 7 May 2018

Garden in April 2018

The roses have been in bloom since 2 days ago.

A Warm Spring Day

This week is the golden week of May in Japan. Everyone is more or less relaxed except, probably, teachers in universities. Teaching continues in many places despite holiday marks on Japanese calendar. Academic calendar runs in parallel to the everyday-life calendar in a different world.

T and I went to Nogawa Park nearby for the first time. K and I were there once in winter before T was born. The park in winter had a desolate scene of loneliness and peace. In spring, it is abundant with green, and the brook is clear and shallow enough for kids to enjoy themselves. T enjoyed throwing pebbles into the water and collecting pebbles in the water. If the dad had been with us, I guess he would probably have stopped T from taking off shoes and forbidden him from walking into the river. 

It was a sunny day, and T, with his passion for lunchbox and picnic, couldn’t wait further ado before we sat down under a tree to have a bite. Compared with another national park nearer to our place, Nogawa Park was less crowded, and the field looked even more spacious and natural. T commented, “it is comfortable here.” (ここはさわやかですね！) During the whole while he was speaking both in Japanese and Mandarine, the latter of which was quite new to the style our everyday conversational up to now. After lunch, we started to look for another place to play water. Sometimes he ran ahead; sometimes we walked holding hands and singing in Chinese nursery rhymes. I was surprised that he would be able to sing the songs that I sang to him, and that he was able to do so in Mandarine. 

I promised him that next time the dad should come with us to visit, and we will  remember to bring our sandles so that he can walk in the water. 

My Lunchbox Diary II

Fried potato salad (コロッケ), shallow fried bell peppers, rice with tuna and corn, fruit, broccoli. 24 April 2018.

My Lunchbox Diary I

My lunchbox diary resumed in April. For some complicated issues with my work hours (another long story about how Japan is a disabling environment for working mothers), T is no longer entitled to staying in the nursery where he was enrolled in April 2017. After many difficult considerations and many more emotional downturns, we decided that T would move to a local kindergarten.

The town where one of the universities that I work in is said to be a posh area, populated with upper-middle-class families and boutique shops. The university itself is also prestigious in terms of its academic ranking. 

I am currently reading Laura Kipnis's Against Love,