Entry for July 16, 2007

"Sukoshi nara daijoubu."

It's o.k. as long as it's just a little.

Anyone else feel that quake we had this morning? No? I didn't think so, just making sure. The quake's epicenter was quite a ways from us, but I was at home when it hit and felt it. The chandelier in the kitchen was swaying quite hard. The Pumpkin Princess was busy drawing with her crayons. I don't think she noticed.

Today's a holiday in Japan, but the Pumpkin Daddy had to go to work, so it's just the Pumpkin Princess and me. I did laundry and hung it out to dry while the Pumpkin Princess watched her favorite TV shows, "Inai-inai Baa" (Peek-a-boo, it features a 180 cm dog with green ears and a strange creature with baby rattles for ears and a personality reminiscent of Elmo from Sesame Street) and "Okaasan to Issho" (With Mother, not a very politically correct title in this day and age, but the show has been around for about two decades now, a Romper Room-esque featuring singing and dancing by a 20-something male and female duo. The woman is frighteningly thin and I keep waiting for the news that she's been hospitalized from complications due to anorexia nervosa, not a very good role model for the little girls). Then we drew some more and read picture books and played with lego blocks, and then went to the farmers' market where I bought two basil plants and some peaches. Lunch was somen noodles, cheese, and the purchased peaches. After lunch I put the Pumpkin Princess to bed and fired up the dishwasher, cleaned the bathtub, cut up veggies for the veggie and scallop stir fry and made the ratatouille for tonight's dinner.

The Pumpkin Princess is still napping, so I took the time to blog. I'm undecided what to do when she wakes. Maybe we'll check out the shopping mall for a couple of hours, I'm not sure. I'm going to go fold and put away the laundry while she is napping, which will give me more options.

I can do this stay at home mom thing, if it's only for a short while. The general concensus among my friends (none of them stay at home full time) is that full time stay at home moms are an amazing breed. It takes a very special person with a lot of patience and tolerance to be able to devote all their time to their home and family. I am much too selfish to be able to pull that off.

Wow, two entries in three days!