Summer Project: Gardening

Now that I have caught my breath, I am ready to begin tackling my epic maternity leave laundry-list. This mega list has its own sections and subsections. I won't share all the glorious details with you since I don't want to bore you or jinx myself. But I think I am safe sharing the section headed Summer Projects as they are kid-related and I suspect that is what most of you tune in for.

I have wanted to start a little container garden like, um, forever. Being a band of traveling gypsies, it is hard to overcome my resistance to putting any kind of roots down, literal or otherwise. Now that I am home and have more time to consider things properly, I decided that there was no time like the present for starting a tiny garden. Mainly because gardening is good for the kids on many levels and because we live in the hottest concrete jungle in Japan so we really need that bit of green.


So here we have tomatoes, peppers, basil, bitter melon, and sunflowers. Each kid has their own plant to tend: Nico chose the pepper, Colette has the basil. Sebastian's are the sunflowers, his favorite flower being a summer child. Also, we can use any seeds from the flowers to feed the hamsters later.

I am caring for the tomato and bitter melon. The bitter melon will hopefully stretch upwards on the netting, their lush vines forming a 'green curtain'. It is our contribution to setsuden, energy saving in a reduced-nuclear Japan. Another summer project in the making.

Me, Myself, and I

I had my weekly doctor's visit today and it was predicted by his swift judgment that I still have another week to go. I am actually hoping Luca will want to be born on the 21st since it will make my kids a complete cusp set (Sebastian-20th, Nico-22nd, Colette-23rd).

I always feel a little fatigued after seeing the regular doctor and always have to transform into self-doula mode to raise my spirits. It isn't easy giving birth in a place where we are essentially on our own. After two years in Nagoya, we do have quite a few friends, yet it is not normal in Japan to rely on such relationships during times like this. Typically pregnant women return to their parents' house the month before the birth and remain there until the one month baby check-up following the birth. It is a nice tradition for those who can take advantage of it but for a mama like myself, it means that I am more isolated than most.

Of course, I went through this before with Colette and lived on a tiny island for that one so I am experienced. It does increase my sense of self-sufficiency but I can't help but envy those women who do have parents in the country to help them during such a vulnerable time. My own parents have helped me tremendously in their own way but I wish they had decided to retire in Okinawa instead of St. Augustine, Florida. Similar climates and much easier for us to travel to.

Yet there is no sense in feeling sorry for myself. I just must remember that this is the one disadvantage that balances all those advantages we have living in Japan. And also I must recall that amazing sense of victory I felt at the end of Colette's active but gentle birth. It made me feel akin to women who go off by themselves to give birth in the bush. Such a peaceful and natural event, so unlike the experience promoted by those who wish to profit from childbirth.

At the end, I feel all I can say is ganbatte to myself and just try and stay sunny. A pursuit made easier by the return of actual sunshine pouring through my window.

Gasp...is it almost that time already?

Incredibly I have only 4 more days of work ahead of me. I can hardly believe it. Most of this winter has passed in a blur of teaching, sleeping, being ill, and taking care of various kid-related needs. I am almost 34 weeks pregnant and have been down for the count AGAIN this past week due to whatever was going around. My lowered immunity means that I am like black corduroy for lint. I look forward to being cloistered in my snug apartment with only the germs of my beloved filtering in. This is my first time in four pregnancies that I have worked this far into my pregnancy so come March 3rd, I am going to be a happy woman.

Part of slowing down means focusing on the fact that we will have a new baby here in a few short weeks. Luckily, having had a baby not so long ago, we do still have the basics such as baby carriers and a floor rocker. Unfortunately for Luca, most of the clothes for the previous baby are pink so that is something we must work on stockpiling in these next few weeks. He'll be a spring baby but spring in Nagoya is rather cool until the end of May usually so his earliest clothes will need to be long and warm. I do have plans to make some of his clothes but my plans and my reality rarely meet as I expect them to. So for those aunties and grannies out there looking for something to send, I would suggest looking in the used clothing shops or discount bins for footed rompers or coveralls. And socks are always a great thing too.

Another thing I would like to do is to use cloth instead of paper diapers. Besides for the ecological benefits, we are also going to be on a tight budget this next year so I believe it would be economically advantageous for us to give it a go. It is something I have always wanted to try but since I have never been home full-time with any of my infants, it was always off the table. I am thinking of ordering something like this starter set, something good for cloth diapering novices.

I am also searching the auction boards for my own mama chari, a bicycle that can carry Luca in the front and Colette in the back. The boys both have their own bikes and I think that this would be a good option even for neighborhood errands. Nico's only in school from 8:45-2:45 which really doesn't leave a lot of time for doing errands on foot. And in the summer time I think it would be nice to be able to bike around as a family instead of hoofing it on the melting pavement.

Another thing that I plan to implement since I will be queen of apartment #202 is to switch to a whole foods, macrobiotic based diet for the whole family. Again ecological and economical at the same time. We'll be planting some of our first plants in the balcony garden this next week or two now that the weather is leaning towards spring (though still dipping past freezing some nights).
It is shaping up to be a very domestically-minded year, something I am truly excited about.

Of course, I do have other plans as well but being sick recently has taught me that I need to focus on the core before working on the periphery. Like school supplies over art supplies. Reading skills for the boys over writing books. That sort of thing. But I am sure with a whole year ahead of me, I can manage to fit in everything. Just a matter of patience and diligence, which are part of that core as well.

Now, time to make some soup and rice and get everything ready for the start of another school week. Hope you are all well. Take care.

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I cannot blog and have a cold, it turns out. I am just not that talented. I can't bear to write about tissues and red eyes yet there was nothing else on my mind for the last week. I'm on the mend now so all is well.

I am also in the homestretch of time until my maternity leave starts (3/6!!). I'm dreadfully excited about it since it means more time with the kids and near constant access to the bathroom (I am pregnant, people). With Colette I had about four months of maternity leave which was great but since we were also in the process of moving cross-country and I was working on my MATESOL, it didn't leave much room for anything else.

So this coming YEAR of maternity seems absolutely rich with opportunities for working on all the things I never have time for as a full-time teacher. January has been my month for paring down the massive to-do list that I compulsively add to even when I say I want to keep it simple. I promised myself at the turn of the new year that I would focus my attention on just two core pursuits. Japanese had/has to be one of them since it goes along nicely with my promise that I would have a decent comprehension of the language by the time we renew our three year visas, which happens to be next year. So that leaves a slot for just one other thing. Writing? Drawing? Sewing? I have been struggling with this. I tried to make room for all three of them, but it made me tired and I ended up with a runny nose and a sore throat. I crossed out sewing, or at least sewing for a new shop. Meaning I crossed out a new shop too. I packed away my fabric and notions with a sad 'see you later'. They'll keep. And in March I will do some sewing for the new baby as well as back-to-school gear and some sundresses for Colette. So it isn't a complete farewell but it does clear my head.

Now to decide between drawing and writing. Writing is the likely winner but drawing for a year is very tempting. Writing is something I can do, given the time and a quiet space. Drawing is something I want to do. I want to write too but drawing is much easier to work on when surrounded by littles (see requirement above for writing). Unfortunately, it turns out that my clock only allows for 24 hours in each day and, like it or not, I need a fair amount of sleep. So I must choose wisely.

Of course, taking care of four kids is included in my calculations but at this point, mothering is like breathing or laughing. Very natural and I don't premeditate it (that much). Actively and consciously being creative is more challenging, so that is why I devote so much time and space here to consider how to do it properly.

So I will continue to consider the best course, doing both until the answer comes to me. Though, not trying to be impatient, I am hoping the answer isn't delayed as I really look forward to getting started on this gift that my little Luca has given me.

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It was a good holiday. Not much was accomplished but we didn't have high hopes for vacation productivity at the start of it anyway. We did clean the house and ate good food and threw snowballs and read some books and played Mario Cart and stayed warm inside our little apartment. We had invitations to go visiting friends but issued rain checks for the sake of having some good, unhurried down time. We didn't bicker much, only at the beginning when we were getting used to being around each other so much again. Now we are all chums. The kids are such pals that whenever one is given a treat they go run to find the other to give it to. A big difference from the first few days when selfish tendencies were the norm, each child competing for my attention, the oft absent one. Now they feel secure again, the two weeks having replenished all that is stripped away during the rush of the work-school week.

Tomorrow I return to work. I will be busy teaching and preparing materials for the new teachers. Come March 6th, I will be on leave for over a year. I know that the year will be hectic and full of frowns and temper tantrums. These two weeks have given me a glimpse of the sweetness that is also in store for me during my time off. Knowing that I will have such a wonderful gift makes it a little easier to leave my warm nest tomorrow morning.