On Wednesday, the language school I was teaching part-time at had a end-of-school-year/goodbye party for me. I had decided to call it quits when the boss pretty much treated me like a used rug and I don't see the point of tolerating it anymore. That was one ending (and boy, it was extremely liberating to say "hell no!" for once!) Yesterday, one of the mommies from the playgroup stopped by and we discussed about discontinuing our playgroup. I had the idea of starting an English playgroup for my daughter when she was 1 year old, and a few Japanese mommies joined. It turned out to be a wreck (in my opinion) with the Japanese mommies trying to get their kids to join in when the kids (2 years older than mine) were very obviously unhappy about being there. The group consists of mainly boys, so there was also a lot of fighting and yelling and most of our "play" time turned into trying to deal with fights, crying and outbursts. So, with a couple of our members moving away, we decided to just discontinue, which was a huge relief for me. That was another ending.
There is one new beginning: my daughter is going off to nursery school in April. My mother-in-law (who lives with us) was asking if I was going to try to get a job. I don't quite know how to explain to her (or to anyone else who asked), but I really would like to try my hand at blogging, online writing and maybe affiliate marketing (which I will have to study up on when I have more time). Whenever I sit in front of the computer, MIL (mother-in-law) assumes I'm just goofing off. Hubby seems a bit more understanding and semi-supportive of my new endeavor, but I have a feeling he'd rather I get a "real" paying job.
I plan to work on this for about a year or so and see how it turns out and if there might be any future in it for me. If not, I suppose I will have to look for employment elsewhere. That, or have another baby ... which is a whole different issue.
Anyway, I tend to believe the saying that "when God closes a door, He opens a window." Somehow, I do feel that these are signs by God telling me to do something else. I guess it's up to me to find what that something else is.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
School bag, book bag, lunch bag, bags, bags, bags
Yup. I'm pretty much bagged down at the moment. My daughter will be starting nursery school in April and so I am preparing all sorts of bags (among other things) she will need for school. The thing is, these bags are of very specific sizes and therefore, can't be store-bought. This means that I will actually have to MAKE them!
Here's the list of things needed:
1) Futon for naps
2) Document bag (20cm x 26 cm) with shoulder strap
3) Book bag (30cm x 40cm)
4) Clothes bag (35cm x 40cm) with a pocket in the front
5) School bag (no specific size, but will need to be big enough to fit lunch box, cups, chopstick case, handtowel case, and toothbrush shet)
Typical book bag
Typical school bag
Lunch set:
6) Lunch box (must be aluminum so food can be heated) with lunchbox bag (must make 2-3 bags)
7) Spoon and chopsticks
8) Handtowel
9) 2 cups (1 for drinking and 1 for gargling) and cup bags (2-3 bags)
10) toothbrush
Typical lunchbox (bento) bag
Clothing:
11) 2-3 sets of change of clothes
12) indoor shoes and outdoor shoes and a shoe bag
That's about it!
So, I asked Mother-in-law to teach me how to operate a sewing machine today so I can start making bags for my daughter. It was my first time to even touch a sewing machine, but it actually is pretty amazingly simple to use. I didn't do a very good job with the stitches, but it held, so I'm happy about that. It took a lot of concentrating, but it was pretty fun and it's very satisfying to hold a handmade product (made by yourself!) in your hands. The best part is knowing that I'm making this wih love for my daughter.
Some great school bags
Here's the list of things needed:
1) Futon for naps
2) Document bag (20cm x 26 cm) with shoulder strap
3) Book bag (30cm x 40cm)
4) Clothes bag (35cm x 40cm) with a pocket in the front
5) School bag (no specific size, but will need to be big enough to fit lunch box, cups, chopstick case, handtowel case, and toothbrush shet)
Typical book bag
Typical school bag
Lunch set:
6) Lunch box (must be aluminum so food can be heated) with lunchbox bag (must make 2-3 bags)
7) Spoon and chopsticks
8) Handtowel
9) 2 cups (1 for drinking and 1 for gargling) and cup bags (2-3 bags)
10) toothbrush
Typical lunchbox (bento) bag
Clothing:
11) 2-3 sets of change of clothes
12) indoor shoes and outdoor shoes and a shoe bag
That's about it!
So, I asked Mother-in-law to teach me how to operate a sewing machine today so I can start making bags for my daughter. It was my first time to even touch a sewing machine, but it actually is pretty amazingly simple to use. I didn't do a very good job with the stitches, but it held, so I'm happy about that. It took a lot of concentrating, but it was pretty fun and it's very satisfying to hold a handmade product (made by yourself!) in your hands. The best part is knowing that I'm making this wih love for my daughter.
Some great school bags
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tis the season to be busy
March is the end of the fiscal year in Japan and the tax season. It is also the end of a school year. Students get about 2 weeks off before they return to school in April to start a brand new academic year.
My daughter will (probably) start preschool come April. I put "probably" in parentheses because I applied late and haven't heard back from the Child Department at the City Office yet as to whether or not my daughter will be able to attend preschool. It is extremely annoying considering Japan has such a low birth rate (I've seen a TV program that showed a calculation where if situations don't improve, Japan will end up with only a few thousand people or so within a few centuries -- I actually don't remember the exact figure, but it was that dire). Our local preschool advertises the maximum number of students to be at 70 and they only have about 60, so space is definitely not a problem. I believe it's just a massive amount of red tape. It's also strange because it's not like preschools are free. I will be a paying customer. You would think the school would be begging us to attend their school!
So .. for other parents who have their places for their children assured, this is the season for them (the mothers) to start preparing all the school-related items such as clothing (with names written on tags on all articles of clothing), school supplies (crayons and such, again with names taped to each and every crayon and each and every item), school bags (which I heard that many schools require the mothers to make by hand because they have to be of a precise size and measurement), futons for sleeping (nursery schools have nap times whereas kindergartens do not), and shoes (for use inside the school grounds). Many schools will also have days when there aren't school lunches available and the parents (the mothers) will have to make lunches for their children to take to school.
This is where the mothers aim to excel and impress. Japanese mothers take great pains and, seemingly, joy in preparing ornate, cutesy lunchboxes (o-bento) for their little ones. It is an obsession and I have a feeling, a competition among the mothers to see who can make cuter lunchboxes. If you go to any bookstore here in Japan at around this time, you will find books after books about making school lunches.
I am not artistic or crafty. My husband is. Today, he actually made lunch for our daughter in the shape of a well-known and well-loved character in Japan for the under 5 age group -- Anpanman (bean paste bread man). I don't have a picture of my hubby's artwork, but it was rice with cut-up veggies stir-fried in ketchup, shaped in to a circle (Anpanman's head), 3 round slices of carrots for cheeks and nose, a small, thin slice of cheese for the mouth, and seaweed for eyes and eyebrows. Surrounding Anpanman's head is a leafy bed of lettuce. Wow ..
My next order for hubby is lunch shaped into the face of a Disney's princess. I'll definitely take a picture of that and post it when my husband has the time and desire to employ his culinary and art skills.
Hello Kitty Lunchbox
O-bento recipes
My daughter will (probably) start preschool come April. I put "probably" in parentheses because I applied late and haven't heard back from the Child Department at the City Office yet as to whether or not my daughter will be able to attend preschool. It is extremely annoying considering Japan has such a low birth rate (I've seen a TV program that showed a calculation where if situations don't improve, Japan will end up with only a few thousand people or so within a few centuries -- I actually don't remember the exact figure, but it was that dire). Our local preschool advertises the maximum number of students to be at 70 and they only have about 60, so space is definitely not a problem. I believe it's just a massive amount of red tape. It's also strange because it's not like preschools are free. I will be a paying customer. You would think the school would be begging us to attend their school!
So .. for other parents who have their places for their children assured, this is the season for them (the mothers) to start preparing all the school-related items such as clothing (with names written on tags on all articles of clothing), school supplies (crayons and such, again with names taped to each and every crayon and each and every item), school bags (which I heard that many schools require the mothers to make by hand because they have to be of a precise size and measurement), futons for sleeping (nursery schools have nap times whereas kindergartens do not), and shoes (for use inside the school grounds). Many schools will also have days when there aren't school lunches available and the parents (the mothers) will have to make lunches for their children to take to school.
This is where the mothers aim to excel and impress. Japanese mothers take great pains and, seemingly, joy in preparing ornate, cutesy lunchboxes (o-bento) for their little ones. It is an obsession and I have a feeling, a competition among the mothers to see who can make cuter lunchboxes. If you go to any bookstore here in Japan at around this time, you will find books after books about making school lunches.
I am not artistic or crafty. My husband is. Today, he actually made lunch for our daughter in the shape of a well-known and well-loved character in Japan for the under 5 age group -- Anpanman (bean paste bread man). I don't have a picture of my hubby's artwork, but it was rice with cut-up veggies stir-fried in ketchup, shaped in to a circle (Anpanman's head), 3 round slices of carrots for cheeks and nose, a small, thin slice of cheese for the mouth, and seaweed for eyes and eyebrows. Surrounding Anpanman's head is a leafy bed of lettuce. Wow ..
This is not the one hubby made, but this is how an Anpanman lunch looks.
My next order for hubby is lunch shaped into the face of a Disney's princess. I'll definitely take a picture of that and post it when my husband has the time and desire to employ his culinary and art skills.
Hello Kitty Lunchbox
O-bento recipes
Friday, March 5, 2010
What's this all about?!
Who's yummy mummy? Or more curiously, what's so yummy about this mummy? And what's up with the tea house (or is it teahouse)? This very first post attempts an explanation.
As for the name of the blog, the "mummy" part is obvious enough. I am a proud mommy to a very sweet and smart preschool-aged daughter. She is my life and I am very happy with being mommy, hence, the mummy. I was just thinking about a word that rhymes with mommy, and I had a stroke of inspiration -- yummy mummy! How so very cute, sexy and better yet, it rhymes! Alas, apparently, many others had the same idea .. all yummy mummy's and its variations have been taken. So, I needed to add something to yummy mummy. I know many blogs have the word "cafe" attached to it -- probably to signify that the blog is a comfortable place for kindred spirits to gather, sit down and have a nice, relaxing chit chat. I LOVE coffee, but thought I wanted something more unique. I went to www.thesaurus.com and found tea house as one of the synonyms. Cool! I live in Japan, so tea house sounds pretty appropriate. Voila! I got myself a blog!
So, what's this blog for? I am hoping to use this blog to write about things I care about and have a passionate interest in. These include (but definitely not limited to) parenting, early childhood education, bilingualism, cultures and languages, traveling, and maybe some random posts on my life as a foreign wife married to a Japanese person and living in Japan. I should begin to have some more free time now that my daughter is starting preschool in a few weeks time. I plan to be doing a lot of researching, writing and taking up a new hobby. Not sure yet exactly what ... but I'm thinking of a craft or two such as scrapbooking and/or fabric folding (fabric version of origami). I am terrible at crafts, but will think of it as a challenge. And should I get any better (or maybe if I could get hubby to do it along with me, since he's SO much better with his hands), perhaps I could turn it into a monetizing opportunity!
I've always been a pessimist, but I am oddly quite optimistic about this whole thing. I suppose we shall see what this leads to .. if anything. Here's to a great 2010 (after a terrible 2009)!
Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
As for the name of the blog, the "mummy" part is obvious enough. I am a proud mommy to a very sweet and smart preschool-aged daughter. She is my life and I am very happy with being mommy, hence, the mummy. I was just thinking about a word that rhymes with mommy, and I had a stroke of inspiration -- yummy mummy! How so very cute, sexy and better yet, it rhymes! Alas, apparently, many others had the same idea .. all yummy mummy's and its variations have been taken. So, I needed to add something to yummy mummy. I know many blogs have the word "cafe" attached to it -- probably to signify that the blog is a comfortable place for kindred spirits to gather, sit down and have a nice, relaxing chit chat. I LOVE coffee, but thought I wanted something more unique. I went to www.thesaurus.com and found tea house as one of the synonyms. Cool! I live in Japan, so tea house sounds pretty appropriate. Voila! I got myself a blog!
So, what's this blog for? I am hoping to use this blog to write about things I care about and have a passionate interest in. These include (but definitely not limited to) parenting, early childhood education, bilingualism, cultures and languages, traveling, and maybe some random posts on my life as a foreign wife married to a Japanese person and living in Japan. I should begin to have some more free time now that my daughter is starting preschool in a few weeks time. I plan to be doing a lot of researching, writing and taking up a new hobby. Not sure yet exactly what ... but I'm thinking of a craft or two such as scrapbooking and/or fabric folding (fabric version of origami). I am terrible at crafts, but will think of it as a challenge. And should I get any better (or maybe if I could get hubby to do it along with me, since he's SO much better with his hands), perhaps I could turn it into a monetizing opportunity!
I've always been a pessimist, but I am oddly quite optimistic about this whole thing. I suppose we shall see what this leads to .. if anything. Here's to a great 2010 (after a terrible 2009)!
Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)