We almost made it all the way home from kindergarten the other day when we met our very nice neighbor out walking her dog. The dog is old and gentle and my son has grown very fond of him, and our neighbor lets my son hold the leash whenever we meet them. This day my son decided that we were not at all going home, so instead we made a 180 degree turn and he took the dog and our neighbor for a long walk, first to the playground, then over some rice fields before turning around. The dog finds his way without guidance and my son was proudly walking next to his friend with a big smile on his face all the way.
Every morning before leaving our son at kindergarten, we have to fill in some information in an app on the phone, information like who will pick him up and when, what his temperature is and so on. Then when the day is over, there are a few sentences from the teacher about my son’s day as well as other relevant information.
That day I did not need read the app nor ask my son what they had been doing at kindergarten. During our walk he started to sing a new song while jumping along with the dog, and he told our neighbor about some small bugs he saw on the road that he has never mentioned by name before. Coming home, checking the app, the daily report was a description of how our son happily had been searching for dango mushi, sow bugs, with his friends. Judging from his joy when talking about the dango mushi with our neighbor, this is probably the first in a long line of small insects’ names that he will teach me the months to come.
Imagine having not one but two Japanese teachers at home. Now that is a luxury to be blessed with. And although I doubt it, maybe I will eventually start to like bugs as well!
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