【To Moms and Dads Currently Struggling with Parenting🌈】

Thanks to all of you... it has finally become a book!!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(On sale Saturday, March 15th)

Having finished raising my son and daughter, for the past few years, people who know my son have often asked me,“How on earth were you raised at home when you were a child?”I have been asked this frequently.

After graduating from Nada Junior and Senior High School, my son took a gap year and entered the University of Tokyo, College of Arts and Sciences II. While he was a second-year student, he started what is known as a “student startup.” The company he founded and serves as Representative Director and CEO is now in its 9th year, has over 100 employees, and continues to grow as it begins to expand its business overseas.

That said, I was initially puzzled as to why I was being asked, “How were you raised?” It was because they looked at me with eyes that seemed to expect me to reveal some kind of “special way of raising children” from my own lips.

Looking back,ever since he was a child, he always felt like every day was so much fun! ...At every opportunity, I saw him say things like, “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life right now!” or “This is the most fun ever!” with a carefree smile.Not only during his junior and senior high school days when he fully enjoyed school life, but even during the period when he started his business shortly after entering university and was running around without time to sleep, when I worried about his health, his smile and his answer never changed. And even now, as the company’s business has expanded and he is even more responsible and super busy... Watching him, I cannot help but imagine that he willcontinue to update his “happiest moment ever” for the rest of his life.

“There aren’t many young people in this day and age who talk about their dreams and prospects for the future with such sparkling eyes,” or “For some reason, I want to follow him. He has the power to involve people,” are things many people say, and it is surely because he himself continues to walk through life feeling “happy”...I finally realized that.

The true purpose of parenting is to raise children so that they can walk a happy life themselves.

That is what I believe.

It is by no meanswhat is called “elite education.”

* * * * *

In current Japanese society, I feel that many parents think that “(home) education” equals “making them acquire academic ability.” It starts with “How can I get my playful child to study?” and the world is overflowing with various information such as “How can I make my child smarter?” or “What are the study methods to raise deviation scores?”

Especially in cities, from early childhood, various information biased toward that direction is sweeping through parent communities as “common sense in society.”

When such information enters their eyes and ears, parents of the child-rearing generation are driven by impatience and anxiety... I feel that they end up cornering themselves and their children, thinking, “I must get my child on this ‘escalator’ no matter what...”

But, at that point, I want you to remember thetrue purpose of parenting.

* * *

As I look back on our family’s parenting, the anxiety and loneliness I felt back then when I was struggling with parenting every day come back vividly. I want to call out to myself from those painful days. If it were now, I could gently push my own back and say, “Yes, that’s fine,”... I feel a little sad and regretful.

If our family’s parenting experience can even slightly ease your anxiety and hesitation and provide hints for solutions... with that thought in mind, I decided to release this book into the world.

I hope this book will bring courage to everyone who reads it!! And I hope that as many children as possible will grow up to be people who can walk through life while feeling “happy”!!