3rd THE NEW COOL NOTER Award Food Education, Parenting, and Delicious Things Category - 9/14 Review
To everyone participating in the 3rd THE NEW COOL NOTER Award Food Education, Parenting, and Delicious Things category.
The deadline for the September category is finally tomorrow.
Every month, many people write their entry articles right up until the deadline.
Last-minute articles are also very welcome.
Please feel free to participate with your final spurt articles!
Our passionate judges will receive them with even more enthusiasm.
Today, we will also post reviews from each of our judges forthree entry articles. Please enjoy.
(Today's Reviewers)
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<Review (Noriko)>
I am Noriko, who believes that "cooking" is a form of living born from the daily dialogue between ingredients, seasonings, and human hands, and that "food" is the compass of a ship indicating the direction of survival and culture.
"Don't compare yourself to those above."
These are the words of Yuyu-san's eldest daughter.
Within seconds of reading it, I thought, 'Oh, I love this,' and
became a fan of her daughter.
People, including myself, for some reason
often aim for the top.
What is good about the top?
What is up there?
Without even verifying if the top is truly good,
just as if it's because the top is there,
we blindly look up and aim for the top.
However, Yuyu-san's daughter centers on 'herself'.
Since she can't do her best if she looks up, she searches for needs that seek her own strengths, focuses on them, and pours her energy there!
These words startled me.
It is you who suffers when you stretch yourself and push too hard.
Instead of living like that, acknowledge your own strengths and target the places that need them.
This is truly the basic principle of marketing!
And she even manages it!!
Knowing yourself and how to make the most of yourself!
It was the moment I learned about "how to make the most of myself" from my daughter!
Yuyu-san also looks back on that shock.
I thought this was powerful.
I thought, isn't it the ultimate thing to know your own strengths and know how to use them to your advantage?
Acknowledging and accepting your own strengths
is not as easy as it sounds.
People are eager to work hard to improve the things they aren't good at, but they rarely try to extend the things they are good at without limits!
However, your daughter is actually not aiming for the top, but
is steadily advancing on the path
that makes the most of her own strengths.
It is not about caring what others think, nor is it something bound by society.
Paving your own path yourself
I feel such strength and wisdom in that.
I can also see the kindness of the people around her, starting with Yuyu-san, who are supporting such a daughter.
"Stop doing things like that."
There is no one who says such cold things.
I felt that Yuyu-san has been practicing "parenting with a relationship of trust," where she keeps a watchful eye
but lets go of the reins.
That is a very wonderful thing.
As a mother myself, I find Yuyu-san attractive, as she watches over her daughter—who continues to produce herself and shine—with a dazzling sense of pride.
I was raised in a family where my parents were strict and concerned about appearances, so
I lived my life according to the eyes of society, appearances, and the standards of those around me.
It was a set of values where you only aim for the top, as if it's meaningless unless you're at the top.
Yuyu-san writes this about herself, but I find myself full of the desire to have a chat with her over a cup of coffee, thinking, "No, no, isn't that not the case..."
Perhaps it was Yuyu-san
who nurtured the foundation of her daughter, who possesses such a piercing sensibility, and watched over her.
Somewhere along the line, perhaps the feeling of
"To hell with appearances and the eyes of society!"
"Don't worry about it, just go for it!!"
was part of your parenting, wasn't it?
As for episodes, there's the countless mysterious, groundless confidence!
A heart that can praise itself for its current best, even if it's by no means excellent!
Always setting high goals for what she wants to do...
It didn't match up, and as a parent, I wanted to stop her, but...
I let her do as she pleased! (laughs)
It's the person's freedom to think what they want!
She'll understand once she tries it!
If she learns from that and makes adjustments, that's fine!
Reading this part,
this is just my imagination,
but I thought that within Yuyu-san,
there might be a unique sensibility or way of thinking
like your daughter's,
and perhaps it was just difficult for you to express it when you were her age.
You accept groundless confidence,
cherish a heart that can praise its own current best,
and you let her do what she wants to do.
Yuyu-san,
as a mother,
you were the brilliant producer behind the scenes, weren't you.
I thought to myself that I would like to be that kind of mother, too.
It was a wonderful article packed with both your daughter, who seems to have a 'how-to' for living in the future society by self-producing, and you, Yu-yu, whose charming motherly image shines through.
Thank you for your entry😊
Thank you for your application😊
Reviewed by [Noriko], creator of places for all things in the universe
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<Review (Yu-no-en)>
Food is life, cooking is a way of living. This is
Yu-no-en
When the theme for science class or summer vacation independent research was
“Observation.” I’m sure you have all experienced that before.
Even though I thought it was so boring back then,
now I find myself
getting down to the ground
and staring intently at the subject with my own eyes.
Fumi-san, you are one of those people too.
Your sharp gaze and
the way you observe with all five senses fully engaged
emerge from your lively plant photos
and your highly objective writing.
The “mini-jungle” on your balcony.
For you, Fumi-san,
this mini-jungle is
a special place where you can observe the activities of plants in detail.
While learning about herbs,
you also cultivate them,
and use community gardens;
you are someone with a very high interest in cultivation.
The fact that it has now become a minimum size on a balcony
is surely because your observational eye
has become sharper with every look,
and you wished to observe even finer changes
within a range you can keep a closer eye on,
every time you grow something.
“The next year, I planted soybeans again, but they didn't grow. Surprisingly, something that looked like a cross between an herb and a shiso leaf—shaped like shiso, but with the scent and taste of an herb—grew all over the planter.”
As I read this sentence,
I noticed my pores
suddenly starting to tingle with excitement.
Yes,
that kind of thing happens, doesn't it!!
Small plants that look like they are just sitting there
react intensely,
as if locking fine gears together.
And then,
they suddenly create something new!!
There was a similar post in the FB gardening club I belonged to,
and it turned out that,
“It’s not just at your place, it’s happening nationwide!”
Having peers to share discoveries with
also stimulates the desire for research, doesn't it.
Even though it is a balcony where a wide variety of plants live in an intertwined manner,
the reason each one feels strangely comfortable
is likely because your daily rhythm
and the way the plants live are a perfect match,
I thought.
Even a bucket for carrying things
becomes, in your hands,
a home for overflowing potatoes
or lovely, gorgeous roses.
The ultimate touch is
the episode where, after the koi you raised with care passed away,
you buried it in a planter on the balcony,
and the tomatoes planted there had a bountiful harvest.
“I buried it while crying. Maybe it gave me life. It was truly, truly cute, so if possible, I want to keep one again.”
A complete cycle.
Various lives change their forms and
connect to the next, and the next after that.
Nature that continues to connect
without direct human intervention.
What Fumi-san finds among the many small planters
lined up is
the cultivation of people through the cultivation of soil.
Though it may seem detached,
Fumi-san's observation records, overflowing with reverence for plants and nature,
are something I want to continue reading.
I would love for you to continue writing your balcony observation diary.
Thank you for your entry!!
This was Yu no En, a food agri-eater who makes the Earth their home
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<Review (Koredemo-kaasan)>
I am Koredemo-kaasan, who believes "food" is the culture that connects life, and "cooking" is the method for eating.
I was drawn in by the powerful title,
and healed by the cute photo of the child at the top (^^♪
“Do you know the intense song
'God' by John Lennon?”
It starts with this question,
and teaches us that this song denies every god
and every musician he once respected.
I was intrigued by Mioichi-san's work, who says they often think of this song while raising children,
so I read on with great anticipation.
Every adult tells their child,
“Do not do to others
what you would not want done to you.”
Mioichi-san teaches us the difficulty of realizing this, using the manga 'Arabesque' as an example.
In the scene where the protagonist Nonna tells the beautiful pianist Karin
that her friend has had a baby,
“How creepy.”
I was surprised by Karin's line.
The protagonist, who expected words of celebration, must have been surprised too.
The reason for it resonated in my heart with a sad weight.
(See the submitted work for details!)
Mioichi-san, now a parent, continues with a confession.
“I end up doing the things my mother did to me that I hated,
and doing them to an even worse degree than my mother did,
and I continue to feel disgust at the fact that
I cannot stop it.”
I felt that because they possess a strict eye for themselves,
constantly trying to view themselves objectively,
they are able to state this so clearly.
My heart ached at these words, which I felt so keenly.
“There are few decent children born to police officers and teachers.”
These were the unreserved words of the local adults.
To me, it seemed like a biased opinion, but
as a Japanese language teacher and kimono dressing instructor,
someone who is in a position to teach others, Mioichi-san
recalls the behavior of a police officer's child she saw when she was young, and does not deny it.
Those were also words that cornered Mioichi-san, who is a teacher.
As a Japanese language teacher, Mioichi-san
always thinks very highly of her students.
So that no student who has never been praised is left behind,
she finds the good points in each and every one of them,
and I was moved by how she praises them unsparingly.
During work, she keeps her mind fully engaged,
and even during preparation time, she is always thinking about her students.
Mioichi-san, who embodies the 'ideal teacher figure,' is wonderful.
The students who are taught by Mioichi-san are lucky, aren't they? (^^♪
Before returning to the job she cherishes,
it seems she had to force herself to increase her work hours for her child's nursery school enrollment.
There was a reason for that.
“Nursery school fell through, Japan die”took the world by storm in 2016.
I believe that was around the time her son was entering nursery school.
At that time, the development of childcare facilities for working moms and their children was not keeping up at all. I remember news reports stating that some people moved to neighboring wards or near their parents' homes, or even divorced temporarily just to win a spot in a nursery school.
That is how high and thick the wall to nursery school enrollment was 😢
Her son managed to enroll safely amidst such circumstances, but
when Mioichi-san would do her best at work and go to pick him up,
a barrage of complaints from the nursery teacher was waiting for her 💦
It seems she was told every day about the things he couldn't do.
It is no wonder that hearing that every day with a body exhausted from work was painful,
and it must have cornered the Mioichi-san of that time.
After that, it must have been painful for Mioichi-san, who likely had no leeway,
to end up getting angry at her two-year-old son,
especially since she was aware of it herself.
She also objectifies the reason why she ended up getting angry at her son,
“I do not intend to take out my work fatigue
on my child.
But, that is probably
because I am unaware of it, and in reality, I am taking it out on him.”she states.
This is because when she was able to take a proper break,
she realized that there was a version of herself
who could overlook even a little bit of mischief.
Mioichi-san's attitude of sincerely and calmly looking at and analyzing herself
is dignified, fair, and I respect it.
I also looked back on how I handled things when I didn't have any leeway (looking into the distance).
It happened.
There was a past where I didn't have any leeway, couldn't be generous, and ended up feeling self-loathing and apologizing to my children.
Mioichi-san, who does not indulge herself,
compares the unpleasant things her mother did to her with her own situation,
and blames herself 😢
Things she knows but cannot stop with reason,
the fact that she was not a person who got angry frequently until she gave birth to a child,
the feeling that the ethics of parenting she should have had were lost,
the feeling that she hasn't been able to do anything significant,
she continues to blame herself for things that make her want to regret and scream.
I want to give the Mioichi-san of that time a big hug 😢
She prioritizes and enjoys things that she and her husband are good at, want to do,
and habits they have kept, but
she says she hasn't read any parenting books since he turned three.
Furthermore, connecting to the song story at the beginning,
JohnMioichi-san, who writes that she is in the same state of mind,
ends up blaming herself more and more.
There is no such thing as perfect parenting, nor do perfect parents or children exist.
It is natural to not be used to things for the first time, to have things you are bad at or cannot do,
and to have failures.
One day, when her Meniere's disease was severe,
her cute son was concerned for Mioichi-san,
who was lying down to rest a little.
She asks herself, 'Where did this kindness come from?'
and the part where she answers herself, 'At least I don't feel like it came from me,' was heartbreaking.
And, for the sake of her child,
“Especially when I am busy and cannot control my own emotions,
it might be better not to bring this child
too close to me.”
she said, and I cried.
However, that was by no means a sad decision,
but words born from a very positive way of thinking.
The reason you were able to arrive at such a highly relatable answer is
precisely because you, Mioichi-san, are able to view and judge things objectively.
You convey the important points that one should know while raising children
in such an easy-to-understand way,
so I really want people to read the reasons for that in your work!!
It is an eye-opening and refreshing feeling (*'▽')ノ
Mioichi-san,
“The power of one person
cannot possibly compare to the power of many people, can it?”
Yes, I completely agree with that sentiment!!
Thank you for posting such a heart-touching lesson!
May your words and mindset continue to spread.
Creating a place for the family, this is also a mother ♬
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