2026.07.16. No. 2 'I'm just lending it to you. I'm not giving it to you!'

What reached me before the thunder was my son's casual kindness.

—

I am terrible with thunder.

It's much better now, but when my older children were small, I would barely manage my housework, close up all the rooms, and hide under the covers.

My eldest son, who grew up watching me like that, once gave me a pair of high-performance SONY earphones for Christmas.

Thanks to the noise-canceling feature, I've been able to get through stormy days with much more peace of mind.

However, those precious earphones are currently in the shop for repairs. 🏥

And of course, it happens at a time like this.

An uninvited weather event in the evening.

Yes.

A guerrilla rainstorm.

Outside, the rain intensified, and I could even hear the sound of thunder in the distance.

Even when I put on a makeshift pair of earphones, they couldn't protect my eardrums or my heart.

I'm scared. 😭😭😭

But I still had to prepare dinner.

Just as I was standing in the kitchen with slightly trembling hands, complaining to myself, it happened.

My second son, who happened to be home, said,

'Mom, try using these?'

and held out a pair of black earphones.
They were the wireless earphones he had shown me just the other day, looking a bit proud, saying,

'I upgraded to a high-performance pair.'

'But aren't these still brand new?'

When I asked that, my second son said with a nonchalant face,

'Mom, you can't handle thunder, right?'

And he immediately added,

'I'm just lending it to you. I'm not giving it to you!'

……Yes, yes. 🥲

I know (laughs).
But that one remark eased the tension I had been feeling.

When I actually used them, the noise-canceling feature was surprisingly excellent.

I could hear conversations naturally, yet it suppressed the surrounding noise beautifully.

I heard later that some very loud thunder had struck nearby, but I barely noticed it at all.

It was the high-performance earphones that protected me from the thunder.

But what truly helped my heart, which had been filled with anxiety, was surely my second son's remark:

'Mom, you can't handle thunder, right?'

—

🌿 Today's Bookmark

Kindness doesn't always come in straightforward words.

Instead of 'Are you okay?',

it's 'Try using these?'

or 'I'm just lending it to you.'

Hidden within those slightly clumsy words

is the thoughtfulness that only family can understand.

Even if I forget the sound of the thunder,

the black earphones offered to me that day

and my son's words will surely stay in my heart for a long time.

—

#KazukoDaily #ParentChildDaily #SecondSon #BadWithThunder #WirelessEarphones #NoiseCanceling #FamilyKindness #CasualHappiness #Essay #note