Planning

Keikaku

The Pumpkin Princess didn't get into that competitive six-year college prep school she wanted. I'm glad she tried. She writes better than I did at her age. I'm also kind of glad she didn't get in. She would have been blown away and gotten depressed or something. She isn't naturally smart enough to get by in that school without major effort. I think she is smart enough to get by in the best schools with major effort, but she doesn't make major effort on her own. She only makes enough effort to get by. Which is one way to live, except she seems to think she's making major effort. I am torn between trying to let her figure this out on her own, or calling her on it. I didn't while she was preparing (or not preparing, depending on how you look at it) for the entrance exam.

The local JHS where I went and she's headed is kind of boring and depressing (see also: Year of Requirement) but there aren't any major issues like violence and crime. It'll do. The area private schools are not worth the time and money. (Don't get me wrong. They're good schools. I have friends who went there. It's just that they lived a lot closer to said schools when they did, and are not worth commutes of an hour or more.)

We're talking about choosing extracurriculars that will help her get her into the school were the cool, smart kids go (i.e. the same high school as her mom.) I want to get back into teaching her English, if she'll let me. We'll see if she wants to make a major effort to get the things she wants. And if she doesn't, that's all right too. She can work on being happy with what she can get with the effort she wants to make.

Because I think in the end, that's what life is about. Being happy with the things you can get, and the things you can give people, with the effort you are willing to make.

(misguided) Parental Pride

Oyabaka

Me: If there were 40 Pumpkin Princes and 40 Pumpkin Princesses, I would have someone to cuddle all day.

Pumpkin Prince: But then you would have to cook dinner for 40 people. Wait, it would be 40 of me and 40 of Pumpkin Princess, so that would be 80 people. And you and Daddy, so that's 82 people. That's going to be hard work!

My almost 5 year-old is a mathematical genius!

Now if I could get him to stop kicking my friends…um, between the, um, legs, we'd be good.

Just like Sponge Bob!

Sponge Bob mitai!

I've wished for long, lush, curly eyelashes for most of my post-pubertal life. I bought a Shiseido eyelash curler sometime during my first year out of university, and I still use it on a daily basis. I think I have left the house with uncurled, mascara-free lashes about once this past year. But I'd never crossed over to the dark side of falsies. They seemed so…false. Plus, I was too cheap to shell out the money for the high-end ones, while I was wary of the Chinese and Korean imports. Then, a domestic cosmetic company came out with a line of inexpensive falsies, so I had to give it a try. Today, I bought a pair that promised "natural, feminine lashes" and came with a small tube of eyelash glue.

After much trial and error (including the conclusion that I was never going to get them on right without putting my contacts in), I managed to get them on, and well, I finally had the long, lush, curly eyelashes I'd dreamed of for so long.

Except.

The Pumpkin Princess walked in on me while I was doing all this and said, "You're wearing falsies! I don't like them on you. They make your eyes look too big, like you're not Mommy."

As I was marveling at how she did not want a pretty mommy but HER mommy, the Pumpkin Prince came to see what the fuss was about. He smiled and said, "wow, you look cool!"

I was of course delighted with this statement of approval. "Really?"

"Yeah! You look just like Sponge Bob!"

He left for a moment and brought back this old Happy Meal toy.

"See? Just like Sponge Bob! Now all you have to do is paint yourself yellow and draw circles on your cheeks!"

Talk about burst bubbles...

Well prepared

Junbi ga ii

What do people who celebrate Christmas with a live tree do with the tree? Do they chop it up and leave it out for the trash? Use it for firewood?

In Japan, there is a designated method of disposal for New Year decorations. They are burnt in a traditional bonfire. The ceremony is called "dondoyaki" or "dondonyaki"  in Pumpkin Prefecture (other names in other areas include but are not limited to "tondoyaki" "dontoyaki" and "sagicho" but they all involve burning New Year decorations) and it usually takes place on January 15th or thereabouts (adjusted these days so that it falls on a weekend and everyone can take part). 

The week before, local kids will come knocking at your door to collect your New Year decorations and two-eyed daruma dolls. Their loot will be placed in a great tower, with straw mats and firewood added for form and flammability.

Our local dondoyaki took place in the park the Pumpkin Prince and Princess frequent. The fire department stands by, just in case. 

This is my neighbor. She came prepared with dried squid skewered on twigs. When the bonfire settles, she'll roast the squid to eat. Others came with mochi (rice cakes) on sticks, and sweet potatoes in tin foil.

Here they are, getting ready to light the fire. Not all the darumas have actually earned their second eye. Many (o.k., nearly all) were bought and given two eyes just for today.

Ready, set!

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn....

It only took a minute or so for the blaze to reach full force. To be honest, until this moment, I thought the Fire Department was kind of overkill. Now, I am glad they were there.

After the blaze settled down, everyone who came prepared roasted their squid and mochi. Eating food cooked by the dondoyaki flames is supposed to bless the person with good health throughout the year.

Boxed lunch

Obento

I make lunch once a year, for the annual Pumpkin Daycare field trip to the Safari Park. I spent the week pondering how I would do this, and got up this morning half an hour earlier than usual to make these.

For the Pumpkin Princess, Sugar Bunnies. She voiced her approval during a sneak preview before breakfast.

For the Pumpkin Prince, Anpanman

The faces are egg, ham, and a carrot slice. For the eyes/ eyebrows/ noses/ mouths, I used special punches to cut nori (dried seaweed sheets).

The egg was a little dry, which meant that nori did not stick to it as well as it did to rice or ham. The Pumpkin Princess burst out laughing when she opened her box at lunchtime because the nose and mouth of the rabbit were stuck to the top...

The grownups just got everything tossed into 3 tupperwares :P

A man's job

Otoko no shigoto

At the Pumpkin Palace, cleaning the bath is a man's job. It's a challenging job which requires years of training to learn to do properly.

.That's why it's best to start early.

You missed a spot...

(She) doesn't miss much!

Yoku mite iru!
I have conjunctivitis. Viral, bacterial or allergic, I am not sure (and neither is the ophthalmologist I saw this morning. And while Japanese medical care does have its drawbacks, I am not going to complain about how I woke up on a Sunday morning with an eye puffed out so badly and stuck together so tightly it could not be opened without using my fingers, and was seen by an ophthalmologist, prescribed medication, and left the pharmacy with said medication in my hand by 11 a.m. the same morning, and only about 4000 yen, or $50, poorer for my trouble). This morning, I could not get my left eye open without using my fingers. It's slightly better now, after 2 doses of oral antibiotics and eye drops, but not much. I'll figure out what to do next after a good night's sleep. In the meantime, I will not let this get me down. Actually, it is getting me down, but it won't take me down without a fight. Or something. Anyway, I'm going to be bright and cheerful and upbeat for my internet friends, imaginary or otherwise.

We went to the 2 local malls to see the Pumpkin Princess's Mothers' Day pictures.

You may recall this image from last year.



I am still not sure what the pink circle over my head is. I have received suggestions that it is a halo. The artist said it was my ponytail holder.

This year, we have this

and this.

Can you see I'm wearing glasses in both pictures? And can you make out the necklace with white flowers on it the Pumpkin Daddy got me for White Day in the bottom picture?

In (somewhat) quake related news (of course you knew I had to say something about the quake in this post), the Pumpkin Family planted bitter melon in containers

and the Pumpkin Daddy hung gardening net in front of the patio door. The idea is to get the plants to grow in front of the patio door, creating a green curtain that will make shade in summer (and help us put a dent in the amount of electricity used by the AC). We made the choice of bitter melon because of its robust, large leaves (as opposed to something like morning glory) and its disease resistance (as opposed to something like cucumber).

That's all 151 cm (4' 11" 1/2 or thereabouts) of me you see in the photo, so you can see how ambitious (and also potentially effective) this plan is.

There's only one container in the photo, but a couple days later, we added another one just like it on the left hand side of the patio.

Of course, the potential drawback is the possibility of a big bitter melon harvest. Anyone know any good bitter melon recipes (other than Okinawa-style stir fry with tofu and egg?)

For this, three wins, one loss (for now)

Kocchi ha (ima no tokoro) san shou ippai

H1N1 (aka swine flu) has struck the Pumpkin Clan, but so far, only the Pumpkin Princess has it, and even she is jumping around and asking for ice cream without the benefit of acetoaminophen (Tylenol to my American friends).

Sunday was pretty wild, though, since we headed to the Sunday duty clinic (in Pumpkin City, the city Physicians' Association designates a "duty clinic" where you go on Sundays. Clinics which belong to the association (OK, pretty much every single clinic in town) will see patients that Sunday. There are a couple internal medicine duty clinics, a GYN clinic, an ophthalmology clinic, an ENT clinic, and a pediatrics clinic designated as duty clinics each Sunday and National Holiday. For really serious stuff, you go to the Emergency Department (Ambulance Clinic to my Brit friends...I think) of a good-sized hospital, but some of the bigger hospitals (like the Red Cross Hospital and University Hospital) will fine you if you go in after hours for something mild like a splinter or a cold and tell you to go to the duty clinic next time if you don't like the fine, which is something like 7000 yen, or $80 depending on the exchange rate).

So Sunday morning, a whiny Pumpkin Princes crawled into the Pumpkin Mommy and Daddy's bed, and Daddy said to Mommy, "she's hot!" Mommy went downstairs to get the thermometer and confirmed that she did indeed have a fever. She took the Princess to the Duty Clinic (which was, fortunately, only a 5 minute drive from the Pumpkin Palace) and was told there was an hour wait, so as soon as the receptionist took copies of the health insurance card and the Pumpkin City medical care card, they went home and had a snack of Pretz and milk.

The tired looking pediatrician, who was a woman slightly younger than the Pumpkin Granny, took a nasal secretion sample (and gave the Pumpkin Princess a mild nosebleed in the process) and declared her positive for type A influenza, which, this early in the season, translates into "I'm pretty sure it's swine flu". She wrote a prescription for Tamiflu and Tylenol. We were told to wait in the car, and the pharmacist from the pharmacy conveniently (heh) located right next to the clinic brought the medications to us, we paid our 50 yen (for the container, the meds are paid for by health insurance and Pumpkin City because she's a child). We drove home, took the first of the Tamiflu and Tylenol, and the Pumpkin Princess went to bed.

Later that day, an unhappy Pumpkin Prince was discovered to have a temp of 38 degrees (100 or thereabouts). Pumpkin Mommy called the clinic and asked what the wait time was and was told it was an hour and a half. So she went alone, got checked in, went back home, waited around for about an hour, and went back with the Pumpkin Prince. The only problem was, the Pumpkin Prince was energetic and happy and smiling at all the harried looking parents in the waiting area who had brought their feverish kids too weak to move. We waited for about an hour (in addition to the time spent at home) to be told by the same pediatrician, who looked even more tired than she did that morning (I think she must have seen no fewer than 200 kids that day) that he looked way to happy to have influenza, took a nasal secretion sample at my asking, and declared him negative for type A flu.

I think we should have told the receptionist we were going home when he started smiling and making happy gurgling sounds at the sick looking 7 year-old girl who was carried in to the exam room by her dad.

Anyway...Monday, I took the day off work and took the Pumpkin Princess to her usual pediatrician. By then, she was fever free and chowing down custard pudding and strawberry ice cream like no one's business. However, the city day care system requires that once you are diagnosed with influenza A, you can't come to day care until you are fever free and have finished the required 5 day regimen of Tamiflu.

Tuesday morning, the Pumpkin Daddy announced he felt feverish and a bit achey, but so far hasn't been able to break the 37.5 degree mark (99 or thereabouts). The Pumpkin Prince measured in at 37.5, so we kept him home, and I stayed home as well (and cancelled a Wednesday work meeting just in case) but has been smiling and gurgling and crawling after the Pumpkin Princess (who is jumping off the sofa as she watches Cinderella II on DVD). I feel fine except for a runny nose I've had since early last week.

So swine flu vs. Pumpkin Palace is 1 to 3 so far. Here's to hoping it stays that way.

"You're right!"

Sono toori!

During the drive home from day care, the Pumpkin Princess said, "Kenny says that boys are strong and girls are weak, but that's not true, is it? Both boys and girls are strong!"

I've taught her well, haven't I?

(Name changed to protect the ignorant innocent)

Isn't that overkill?

Yarisugi janai?

The Pumpkin Princess has the chicken pox. I regret that I didn't get her vaccinated. It's not required here, but it's safe and effective, and I really should have, but I procrastinated, and now it's too late. I took her to the pediatrician's a couple days ago. The clinic has a separate waiting room with a separate entrance for the kids with infections like chicken pox, measles, mumps, influenza, etc. We had the room all to ourselves, and there was a generous supply of toys and picture books. We kept each other entertained until the pediatrician (a woman about 10 years my senior and about my size and shape, when I'm not preggers anyway) came into the room with the nurse, examined her, pronounced my diagnosis of chicken pox correct, prescribed her some drugs, and left. The nurse came back with the drugs, explained them to me (this one is taken four times a day, at least four hours apart, this one you dab on the splotches with a Q tip, this one is in case she gets a fever, you can save them for later if she doesn't need them). I looked at the drug names, and found the oral med was acyclovir, an antiviral drug. I didn't know they give you antiviral drugs for chicken pox. I compared notes with my co-workers later that day, and they said that they got acyclovir for their kids when they got chicken pox, too. Seems to be standard procedure in Japan. It doesn't change the (already low) complication rate, but it shortens the course of the disease. They don't give it in the US, which I can understand. It strikes me as kind of being overkill. Still, I gave it to her, since it's a pretty safe drug and it's standard procedure here. 3 days later, most of the splotches have crusted and she is no longer getting new ones. We've had minimal tears about itching and lesions in the mouth. She's not had any fevers. Plus, the drugs and the exam were free. Who am I to complain?

Health care for children is free in Japan. How long depends on where you pay taxes. In Pumpkin City, you get free health care up until you start 1st grade. (If you want to get technical, the health insurance from my work pays for 70%, and Pumpkin City pays for the remaining 30%). I flash this card and I'm good. For Thursday's exam and the drugs, I paid 50 yen (60 cents or so?) for the container the topical Q-tip drug came in.

The system is not perfect. The premise is that you have regular health insurance. Most people do, but a small minority of low income households do not, and they won't pay the 30% if no one will pay the 70%. Also, the length of the coverage depends on the city. Pumpkin City is about 6 years, but the neighboring city will only pay for kids up to the age of 3. In Pumpkin City, they were kicking around the idea of paying until age 12, but with the economic downturn (and decreased tax revenue) of recent months, that one might go down the drain. We'll see.

How?

Douyatte?

Today was the Pumpkin Princess's 3 year-old physical, run by Pumpkin City. They asked that you bring in a urine sample. I went in with my empty ziplock bag and said that I hadn't been able to get a sample. The lady at the desk smiled and said I could bring it in any Thursday afternoon I managed to succeed.

Someone needs to explain to me how I am supposed to get a urine sample from a 3 year-old who refuses to use the toilet.

(Actually, I can think of at least two ways how it could be done, and I think I would be willing to try at least one of them if I were given the appropriate tools. I'm wondering how the average parent is expected to go about doing this, because a non-potty trained 3 year-old is not the least bit unusual.)