It has been a couple of weeks since I started at my new school and we have got into a nice rhythm and routine.
Mommy does the pick ups.
Daddy gets me ready in the morning and takes care of drop offs.
More and more, I kind of self manage and do what I have to do on my own. I like school and am learning a lot. But I still can’t wait for the weekend.
I like to watch TV, but I pretty much went through all my favorite shows several times through. I know every Paw Patrol episode available on Netflix and every Tayo the Little Bus episode as well. I think I saw every Curious George and Shawn the Sheep too. So I try to branch out and watch new shows. Peppa Pig is pretty funny. It is not as good as Bluey, but for a quick fun show, it will do. Yes, that’ll do pig, that’ll do.
I’ve already gotten used to my new school. There are a lot of things that are different, but nothing that is bad. I am part of a class of 20, and I kind of like it. We are given a lot of responsibility and also freedom. The nice part is that also creates structure, which I like a lot. My previous school was much smaller and we had a lot more one-on-one time with the teachers, which was great for me when I was younger, but now I think I need more space to work things out on my own and with the support of my teachers after I process some things first.
Since the school is much closer, there is not as much of a rush to get to school in the morning, and since Daddy has a flexible schedule, we don’t have to worry about him missing a train or anything. I quite like our mornings now.
Some days I wake up with a lot of energy and just feel like laughing and moving.
Some days it takes me a little longer to fully wake up and get ready, but I still do what I have to do…eventually.
I walk all the way to school on my own two feet, chatting with Mommy and Daddy on the way. When we get to school I change my shoes, put away my things, and then join the other kids in class. There are some kids who are crying and calling for their Mommy. Some kids cling to their parents. Some kids waste time to get a few extra seconds before their parents leave. I don’t do any of those things. I get big hugs from Mommy and Daddy, loving words of encouragement, then I eagerly join the rest of the kids in class. Even though I may be slow to get started some mornings, I pretty much always walk into school with a smile on my face and looking forward to the day ahead.
Recently I have been wanting to go to a car wash. One of my favorite shows is Carl’s Car Wash, but we haven’t been able to find a car wash like that here in Japan. In Carl’s Car Wash the vehicles go on a conveyor belt and go through the car wash. In Japan, you stay still and the car wash goes around you. Since we couldn’t find a big car wash like my show, we just settle for the normal Japanese one. It was pretty cool and I’m glad we tried it. But, a bit anti-climactic compared to my show where there are helicopter brushes, sponge arms, and fans that are so powerful that your car floats. I liked the car wash, but said we don’t have to go again.
Today we went to a new play area near Costco. Before we went, I had to get warmed up a bit with some morning exercises.
We got to the Costco area and I had one of my favorite lunches: omurice. Naturally I ate everything up. I had a full belly and I was in a good mood.
Then it was off to the play area. Even on the way there I was still in a good mood. I was talking about wanting to eat the clouds because they looked like cotton candy.
The old play area that we used to go to got expanded and is much bigger now. We hadn’t been there in a while because in the past I would get upset and throw tantrums when other kids wanted to play with what I was playing with or just play near me or do anything that did not go exactly the way I expected it to go. Yeah, you can see why we were hesitant to go back, even though the play area got upgraded. But I’ve been doing better at playing with others and dealing with different situations, and Mommy and Daddy talked to me about what could happen at the play area and their expectations of me. So we took a chance and went.
I was getting pretty sweaty so we took a water break and I changed into some fresh clothes. Then it was right back into it.
I had a ton of fun at the play area and did not have any tantrums or any trouble at all. I guess I’m growing up!
Mommy had to work today, so it was just Daddy and me in the morning. But we went to meet Mommy at a Nepal Festival that was going on in the city. So we hopped on a bus and had a fun ride into the city. When we got there, we saw that some spring flowers in bloom so we took some cute pictures.
After meeting up with Mommy we had some lunch. There were a few foods that were a little too spicy for me, but there was this very yummy fried rice dish, a kebab wrap, and sweet donut like snack that was delicious! I had my fill and went off to play with Daddy.
We wandered around the festival looking at different things and touching the target color.
One of those colors was yellow and I found a very pretty flower! I took it all the way home.
When we got home, I wasn’t quite ready to go inside yet, so I just played outside on my Mercedes and bicycle. I still can’t “ride” the bicycle, but I am practicing a lot!
Mommy had something tonight so Daddy took off a bit early and picked me up from school. I was thrilled to see him! Although I like school, I got ready to go home very quickly and then we were headed out of the school.
The toy for a Happy Meal is Tomica right now, so we went to McDonald’s for dinner. I didn’t get the car that I wanted, but it was still a cool car. It was a dinosaur truck! Interesting!
I’m growing up so fast. Not only did I let Daddy know when I had to go pee-pee, but I also opted to go pee-pee in the urinal. I was about to burst so I just wanted to do the fastest pee-pee possible.
After dinner we headed home and played a lot with my new car and other cars. Daddy got me bathed, read me several books, then I brushed my teeth, and then it was off to bed. I missed Mommy and said many times, “I want Mommy.” Daddy was very understanding, but had to point out that Mommy wasn’t at home. I accepted that. I didn’t whine or cause any trouble. I just repeated those feelings and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.
I got ready pretty quickly today so I had time to play with my toys. I wanted to replace some stickers on my Tomica, so I got to work on that. I sometimes ask Daddy to help me with putting stickers on my toys, but these were too small for him to see, so I took care of it.
Ever since I started at my new school, I don’t ask to be carried anymore and walk the whole way on my own. Well, the school is much closer than my old one, so it is an easy walk.
Mommy made me an omelette for dinner and I asked her to make it an ambulance. And boy did she deliver. By the way, the tires are cucumbers in chikuwa.
And because I ate all of my delicious dinner I got to have dessert. My first choice: a banana!
Just acting silly while playing with sliding doors. Yes, doors can be fun!
Tracking my good behavior through Gohoubi Stickers. Sometimes when I misbehave, my toys get put on timeout. This is a way for me to get them out of timeout by showing good behavior. Kind of like parole.
There are a lot more things for me to do when I get to my new school. I have to change from outdoor shoes to indoor shoes, I have to go to my classroom to put my stuff in my locker, then I have to gather at a classroom with the other students. It hasn’t even been a full week but I already remember the routine and can pretty much do it on my own.
I like school, but I still miss Mommy and Daddy during the day. Obachan picked me up from school again today after my nap and snack. I think I have one more day like this and then I’ll be able to stay for the full day. Obachan and I went to the subway to meet Mommy after she got off work.
I was sooo happy to see Mommy!
Later I helped Mommy cook dinner by chopping some vegetables for her with my kids’ knife. I do a good job of keeping my fingers safe.
Mommy has been baking a lot lately, and being a bit of a foodie, I always have to take a picture of her yummy desserts before I devour them.
I’m continuing to have a hard time dealing with my emotions. If something happens that I don’t like or if something doesn’t turn out as I expect, I get very upset and then start to spiral into a tantrum. Once I start spiraling I usually can’t find my way out no matter how much Mommy and Daddy try to help me. When I have my tantrums I can be quite mean. I hit and sometimes spit. (I don’t know where I learned to do that.) And I am mean with my words too. Recently, when I’m mad at Daddy I tell him to go to work. I really don’t want him to go to work, but when I am angry and sad there is a part of me that wants other people to be sad too, so I use hurtful words.
I’m trying to be better, but it will take time for me to understand and control all these different emotions in me and accept the fact that I can’t always get my way.
It was a tough and long week. After being sick at the beginning to having to get used to a new school, I was really looking forward to the weekend so that I could relax and have fun.
When I’m not playing with my cars, I’m usually reading about them, or thinking about them. Here I’m perusing a Tomica catalog while singing an Anpanman song in a gravelly voice, just because.
I discovered some earbuds and pretended to be enjoying my music privately.
Then I had some iPad time.
I played outside with my Mercedes a d bit. I like to play delivery truck a lot and I had realized that the delivery trucks in Japan always tuck some wheel chocks under the wheels when they make deliveries. Daddy made me some wheel chocks out of the wood that kamaboko comes on. They worked quite well.
After dinner we went for a walk around the block. It was nice evening and we were all quite happy.
On our walk we passed by my new school. It looked different in the evening.
After we got home I still had some time to play!
It was a very fun and relaxing Saturday.
I’m getting more and more used to my new school everyday. Today I stayed until nap time and snack time. I think I’m about ready to stay for the full day soon.
One big difference between my old school and new school is that the new school doesn’t have as much communication with the parents. My old school wrote messages to Mommy and Daddy everyday about my school day including how much food I ate, what activities we did, and trouble I may have had. They also had a blog where Mommy and Daddy could read about and see pictures of our day. At me new school they have to rely on me for what happened during the day and I don’t have the best recollection about some things. I have been able to share the important things I did like what I played with and who I played with, but for the life of me I can’t remember what I had for lunch.
After I got home I got right to making my creations. I got a Lego tow truck for Christmas, but I added an upgrade to it. When Daddy and I were learning about to trucks we learned that there are these wheel dollies that can be slipped under the back tires of a car that is not in neutral or where the tires can’t be run on. So I made my own wheel dolly to add to my tow truck. Pretty neat, yeah?
I went to school school without problem or argument today. There was no mention of not wanting to go to school and no selfishness or mean comments. I was a very good boy. Maybe you could say that I was an overly good boy in order to make up for how I acted last night. I was nice, sweet, and all smiles today.
I got to school without problem and did my morning routine. I am already getting the hang of this. I gave Mommy and Daddy a big hug goodbye and I joined my classmates. Very smooth and easy, as if I’ve been doing this all along.
Obachan picked me up after lunch because when I was asked if I wanted to stay for nap time, I elected not to. When she picked me up I asked her to take me to YouMe Town. The thing is that yesterday I asked her to take me to YouMe Town, but she said maybe tomorrow. Well, today was yesterday’s tomorrow so we walked to YouMe Town. I charmed her into buying me some new Tomica and then we walked all the way back home.
Daddy was home when we got there. He has an option to work from home and wanted to make sure that Obachan and I were getting along. Daddy couldn’t be home yesterday because he had a meeting with a client.
Obachan and I had a fun time playing together. We ended up watching TV together and then I ended up falling asleep. It was a long busy day for me and I was quite tired from yesterday too. I slept all the way up until dinner time.
Tomorrow I’m going to try to stay for nap and snack. Obachan will pick me up after then. I’m getting used to my new school daily life very quickly. I’m sure that I’ll be staying for the full day very soon.
Today was my first day at my new preschool. Everything started out fine. I woke up, ate breakfast, got dressed and go ready without any issues. But then a few minutes before I started to feel anxious and started to say, “I’m not going to school.” Daddy took me aside and talked to me. He told me it was okay to be worried and okay to be a little scared. But he knew I was a brave strong boy who could do anything. He told me that new things can be scary at first but can end up being something we really enjoy. He reminded me that my first few days at Akarinoko nursery school were hard and that I cried almost every day. I was not even one, so I don’t remember that, but the point was that I ended up loving my time there. After expressing my feelings to Daddy and talking it out with him, I felt a little better and a little braver. I made it to school with a smile on my face.
There were some new things to get used to, like changing from my outdoor shoes to indoor shoes. (At my previous school I would just take off my shoes and socks and spend the day barefoot indoors.) My cubby hole was in my own classroom instead of at the entrance, so we had to go upstairs and put my stuff and bag away. I have to learn where everything goes. Then we gather in one of the classrooms while waiting for everyone to arrive at school.
Everything went smoothly and I gave Mommy and Daddy a goodbye hug and joined the other students. I had a slightly nervous smile on my face, but there were no tears.
I spent the morning at school and it went better than I expected. There was a moment where I was feeling lonely and started crying and asking for Mommy. But my teachers were there to comfort me and I ended up being okay.
Obachan came to pick me up and took me home and we had a fun rest of the day.
Mommy came home and we had dinner and I played a bit. So everything was going well.
Mommy and I were watching TV on the couch when Daddy came home. He had a long day and was still not fully recovered from the stomach bug that he had got from me. He wanted to watch TV with us while eating dinner so he sat in my chair at the dining table. I didn’t like that. I turned very bossy and selfish and would not let him sit in my chair. So Daddy moved my chair out of the way and sat in his chair at an angle where he could watch TV with us. I got more mad. Then I went into full out-of-control tantrum.
I wouldn’t listen to anything he or Mommy said. I wouldn’t do a timeout, I wouldn’t listen, and I would calm down. I was upset about one thing so I became upset about everything. Mommy and Daddy tried talking to me and tried to help me calm down, but I did not budge. I was asked if I wanted to talk, some space, or a hug and I responded with mean comments and crying.
Soon it was time for my bath and I refused and kept crying, yelling, being selfish and being mean. In the end Daddy literally dragged me to the bath. I wouldn’t take off my clothes and when Daddy tried to help me take it off I would pull it back on. It was late, Daddy was tired and still sick, and still hadn’t eaten dinner. So he was at the end of his rope. He just put me in the tub and bathed me with my clothes on. I was shocked but couldn’t do much about it. Eventually he got my clothes off and was able to bathe me, but I did not make it easy.
When we were done I refused to get out of the tub so once again Daddy had to physically remove me from the tub. But now I wouldn’t put my pajamas on. I was stuck in my tantrum and stubborn mode. I was mean. I said mean things. I told Daddy to go to work. I even hit him. I wouldn’t take a timeout so my toys were put on timeout. I wouldn’t listen and I was being violent so Daddy took me to the bedroom. I was still crying, yelling, and being mean, when Daddy started taking notes on his phone, explaining the situation. He wasn’t saying it to me, so that gave me a chance to thin about it and take an outside view. I realized how badly I was behaving and I calmed down immediately. I agreed to take a timeout and did so really well. I was back to my normal self.
I was able to get ready for bed and go to bed peacefully after apologizing and getting a lot of hugs from Mommy and Daddy. I’m not making excuses, but I think the pressure and anxiety of starting at a new school was a bit much for me to handle. Still, that is no reason to hit and be mean. I am a very good boy, but when I have my tantrums I sometimes just forget that. I know I will get better at regulating my temper and emotions, but it will just take time. Mommy and Daddy remind me that they will always be there to help me and they always love me no matter what. Despite what I might say when angry, I love them always too!
