Maybe, I'm the one who wants to do it

I read an article and thought, 'I can relate to this too!'
It was about things I want to do with my children this summer.

Chiaki, a writer and mother of two who is a former nursery teacher, was organizing a theme called 'Things I want to do with my children this summer' or 'Summer memories to spend with children'.

The first thing that came to mind was...
◎ Make a family travel guide!
Our family goes on a trip every summer vacation.
Each time, I've gathered information about our destination online or bought guidebooks, but as the children have grown, they've become able to use tablet PCs themselves to search for tourist spots and recommended gourmet food.
During our trip to Shikoku three years ago, it was my eldest son who found 'Onigashima' (Ogre Island), which we could reach by ferry from Kagawa Prefecture (using Google Maps). Exploring the cool Onigashima Cave (a limestone cave) on this island called Megijima, which we hadn't known about until then, was undoubtedly the highlight of that trip.

Tablets are great, but I'd like something on paper that's easy to carry during the trip. Yes, a travel guide.
A map is essential. It would be convenient to have the names and addresses of the hotels we plan to stay at, and it would be fun to have pages customized for ourselves, such as local gourmet food we want to eat and a list of souvenirs we want to look for.
At this point, my second son, the mood-maker of our family, got excited. What should we look up? What should we write in it? Wait a minute, let's decide on roles.
The eldest son got into it too. He's the most reliable member, having written out a list of attractions he wanted to ride in a college notebook for last year's Disney Resort trip. Maybe I'll ask him to handle the itinerary.
Me?
I'm the general director!

◎ I want to make a Pythagoras Switch machine
Lately, my second son has been repeatedly watching 'Beedama Beesuke's Great Adventure Special' recorded on our hard drive. He also watches Pythagoras Switch almost every day, either at 6:45 AM or 6:40 PM.
I think this show has many adult fans, not just children (my father back home likes it too), but...
Doesn't it make you want to make one when you watch it?
I used to love playing with marble mazes made from empty boxes and cardboard. I loved them, but I don't have many memories of making them. I wasn't very good at crafts, and I wasn't proactive enough to gather materials and make them myself.
However, I never get tired of watching Pythagoras machines with all their various contraptions. In Beedama Beesuke's Great Adventure, the marbles even roll along as characters in a story. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could make such a fun world with crafts?
Let's make this our summer vacation craft project!
Eldest son: 'But, even if we make a machine like that in our room, we can't take it to school.'

...We can just record a video with a tablet and submit that!
I don't know, though...

I started to realize it around this time.

While I say it's things I want to do with my children,
I am the one who wants to do them.



Putting together a one-of-a-kind travel guide,
making a marble rolling machine I admired when I was a child,
I think I'm the one who wants to do these things now.

Having a handmade gyoza party with 100 dumplings by chopping chives and mixing the filling,
having a home concert with a recorder, melodica, and piano,
buying a mystery puzzle book stacked at the bookstore and playing detective to see who can solve it.


I say all these things about wanting to do them as a family or with my children this summer, but really, I'm the one who wants to do them.

But I don't have the confidence, so I'm desperately egging my children on, saying, 'Doesn't this look fun? Let's do it! I'm sure it'll be interesting!'
My honest second son jumps on board right away. He jumps on board so quickly that, if I'm not careful, he might say around 9 PM that night, 'Let's do it now!', and I'm left dumbfounded, saying, 'We can't just do that suddenly!'
As for my eldest son, he gives half-hearted replies like 'meh' or 'eh' or 'maybe not now,' which disappoints me.
Aww, I thought it would be interesting. Well, never mind then...

And then I realize.
Children have their own things they want to do.
If I want to do it, I should just do it myself.

I must be careful. Studying, lessons, hobbies, everything. The 'good things' that parents force on their children thinking it's for their own good are not good at all once they become mandatory. But parents who have acquired various values by the time they become adults often force them on their children. Under the guise of 'it's good to do this.'
'You should do this,' 'Why don't you do it?', 'Don't you have to do it?', 'Aren't you going to do it?'

Phew, that was close.
My boys are already in 6th and 4th grade. They probably have their own ideals for how to spend their summer vacation. That might be lazing around reading manga all day in an air-conditioned room... or rather, that's probably what it's like (as a parent, I wonder about that, but that's also a luxurious way to spend time).
Rui-san, whose article I introduced at the beginning, alsomade a list of things I want to do this summer. I thought that was very important in days where the subject tends not to be oneself.
So this article is about things I want to do this summer.

Next Friday is finally the closing ceremony.
The other me who can't give up is still saying:
Mom is planning to do these this summer vacation, but
would you like to join me if you'd like?

#PositiveParentingCampaign

I couldn't post the original E-Tele video of Beedama Beesuke's Great Adventure, but I found another video that was made following the original atmosphere quite closely, so I'll post that. The level is so amazing that instead of wanting to make one, I'm left speechless...!