On me Jolly Hols… July 5, 2009

So work has finished (for me and the other part-timers at my school) and I am officially on my summer vacation.

On Friday me and the kids went to meet Rachel and Renae and their kids at the Tokyo Met. It was great fun – 2F climbing apparatus (Alexa loves this) trains and kitchen paraphenalia too. Not much chance to sit and chat as our kids, naturally, wanted to play in different areas. Kio and Sena were happily playing in the kitchen area, Akiria was engrossed in the trains and James did join him for a while which meant I could supervise Alexa on the climbing thingy. It didn’t take long for James to get bored and ask to go home! So I took them both for an early lunch in the snack area and this seemed to make him forget about going home for a while. Selfish mummy wanted to stay and chat to her friends a bit more particularly as Rachel would be in the UK for the summer. James wanted to play on a different floor and so we went to the 3rd floor to play with the hula hoops and jump around playing hopscotch. Rachel and Renae, with kids in tow, joined us and we discovered a whole room new to us – traditional Japanesey house like room with yukata for the kids to dress up in. Great fun only James decided against fancy dress half-way through having his obi tied. Akira looked lovely in his green number as did Kio (a pro at fancy dress) in her yukata. Renae and I have pencilled in a kid-free lunch date this summer when her oldest is at daycare and her youngest has time with grandma. My two will be at daycare for three days a week except for the Obon holidays so I have a bit of mummy time and I don’t want to spend all this free time cleaning and organising the apartment, though this is a perfect chance to get a lot of things done at home too.

Rachel and I have exchanged a few books to keep us going over the summer. Now that I trek to Setagaya ku three days a week I have the chance to consume vast amounts of literature. Luckily, we seem to share a similar literary tastes so the book swap was perfect. We both have another Barbara Vine to read. Yes, you read that correctly… both Rachel and I sheepishly admitted that we have read a Barbara Vine and it was actually quite a good read. The Ian McEwans and Margaret Atwoods and Graham Swifts have all found new homes for the summer (amongst others I can’t be arsed to list…)

I am rather surprised that I am typing this blog entry on a Sunday afternoon. Both kids are asleep – Alexa in the bottom bunk and James in the back seat of the tandem buggy which can not be very comfy for a 3yr old who is the size of a 5yr year old! He climbed in the buggy hoping that I would be going to the shops to get some watermelon but as his sister is still in the land of nod, we are going nowhere for the time being. Last I checked he too was in the land of nod…

A lovely “international” couple popped round this morning. He’s Irish and it’s always nice to meet someone who has been here in Japan longer than me. I advertised our baby walker on the Tokyo Mothers’ Group forum as it was taking up too much room and we really do not use it anymore. Of course the kids sit in it now and again but not regularly enough to justify the space it occupies in our small apartment. They have a lovely little boy who at 6 months is perfect for such a toy. Toy is perhaps the wrong word…I used it a lot as somewhere to plonk the kids when I started spoon feeding them purees (high chairs are so roomy for a baby) and also when I needed 5 mins peace whilst I was on the balcony pegging the washing out. Great to sit them in when they are watching TV because it stops them from getting right up close to the TV screen. So glad that somebody else can make use of it. Japan is not very big on charity shops and second hand shops. So much stuff gets thrown away as there is nowhere to take things. Obviously, there are some places – afterall I did just blog about the jumble sale I went to last week, but these events are few and far between. Only this morning when James and I went to take the rubbish out there was piles of stuff in the rubbish room – literally furniture stacked up to the ceiling. Surely it wasn’t all so old it was ready for the scrap heap? Such a waste… You have to pay a fair bit to the council/city hall “big gomi” section to have someone come and take it away too. I remember when I moved to Tokyo I had a washing machine to get rid of and couldn’t find anyone who needed one or who wanted a free washer. Imagine that… there was nobody who wanted something for free!?! I had to call Kamakura City Hall and get some geezer to come and take it away. It cost 5000 yen for the trouble (about 30 quid?)

There are lots of differences like that in Japan. There is a super obsession with “cleanliness” in Japan. In Japan you don’t wash in the bath – you have a shower BEFORE getting into the bath so as not to make the water dirty and then relax in the bath. It saves water I guess – all family members use the same bath water. But why bother with the bath at all if you have just had a perfectly acceptible shower? I often have a traditional bath with the kids and we actually wash whilst we are IN the bath. The water is positively filthy by the time we get out! I know James wees in the bath too, but I try not to think about that. Then there’s the handwashing ritual followed by the gargling that you MUST perform the second you walk in from outside. My hub will come in and actually leaves the children sitting strapped into the buggy whilst he performs this ritual – a ritual believed to help ward off evil common cold germs!! He has a perpetual sore throat and blows his nose a hundred times a day. So much for cold prevention. Don’t get me wrong, of course I believe in washing hands and being clean, but kids are gonna get dirty and it isn’t gonna kill them! Anyway, the other morning as the kids were cleaning their teeth in the bathroom, James reaches for a wet flannel (facewasher cloth – what do you Aussies call it?) and starts to suck on it. He was doing an impression of Alexa who also likes to suck a wet flannel. Tadashi went mental saying how dirty it was and snatched the offending wet rag from James’ mits. I got a lecture on personal hygiene and housewifery skills – how could I fail to see the “danger” in sucking a wet flannel and why had I left a wet flannel on the side of the bathroom sink in the first place???? Gosh, I’m such a sloppy housewife! The kids will not be happy when they realise that they can’t play suck the wet sponge at bathtimes anymore… In the park yesterday, Tadashi didn’t want the kids to play on the toy train because it was dirty. Everything in the park is dirty! I simply ignored him and followed James in the direction of the train. I was glad to see that the wooden train floor was thick with dust, dirt, dry leaves and what not. I was also pleased to see other mothers letting their children play there – rather international bunch – British me, a Russian mother and, shock horror, a Japanese mother was actually letting her son clambour all over the train. He was so filthy.

Anyway, am sitting here now typing as the kids are playing happily. Both are fed, bathed though there were no sponges or washcloths to shove into gobs tonight. They had to make do with the bathtime alphabet (spongey) letters. James is wearing a sky-blue and navy flowery suntop that actually belongs to Alexa with his nappy. An outfit he chose to wear… Must remember to put him in his pjs before bed. Dinner has been made – pork and ginger with steamed green beans and rice and miso soup (of course). Daddy has just come home from the library and James has rushed to greet him at the door. I can hear Tadashi asking James about his “fashion” choice… They are both now gargling together in the bathroom with listerine. How sweet…