2025/07/01 Starting from a Night of Falling Asleep — To Welcome a Summer Without Overdoing It —

2025/07/01

The morning of the start of July is overcast.
The air, heavy with humidity as if dragging June along with it, quietly announced the beginning of summer.

Today's forecast calls for temperatures up to 33°C.
I picked up my water bottle with the intention of keeping my mind and body in balance without overdoing it, so as not to be defeated by the heat.

It seems I fell asleep before my daughters last night.
In other words, I was in dreamland before 9:00 PM.

Usually, I talk about the day's events or have a little chat, and drift off to sleep only after confirming the girls' breathing as they sleep.

My second daughter laughed and said, "Mom, you fell asleep even though I had things I wanted to ask you," and my heart gave a little tug.

A small realization brought by sleep

Was I tired from adjusting the morning study time?
Or had the busyness of the end of the month accumulated in my body?

When I asked, "What did you want to ask?", my second daughter laughed and said,"Lots of things! I wanted to talk to you!"But that phrase, "I had things I wanted to ask," resonated strangely in my chest.

Was there something she wanted to consult me about in secret? I suddenly felt anxious.

For both my daughters and for me, that "time to talk" right before sleep is important.

Parent-child conversations right before sleep are relaxed, making it easier for worries, feelings, and thoughts deep in the heart that are usually hard to talk about to come out.

That is why I believe that by talking a lot, children themselves develop the ability to look back on their day.

Once they fall asleep, the opportunity to share the day's small discoveries and questions is carried over until the next day.

And unfortunately, children usually forget them once they wake up.

My second daughter's laughter contained a kindness, as if to say, "Mom, you were tired too," but my heart had been shaken since the morning.

Reward ice cream and a perspective for balance

Since it is July, mid-year gift packages have started to arrive.
The doorbell rings for each delivery company.

And because they arrived one after another, cardboard boxes piled up. Among them was a box that caught my eye.

GODIVA ice cream!

"Let's make this a reward ice cream," I decided in my heart.
Now that I am searching for a new rhythm for morning study, small rewards are one of the important elements.

But while thinking about when and with whom to eat this ice cream, I suddenly remembered what happened last night.

Choosing kindness instead of trying hard.
I have decided in my heart that I want to spend this summer that way.
Not doing things perfectly, but making choices that keep life running comfortably.

I carefully wrote down those feelings on my July vision sheet.

For example, washing the curtains.
Changing the cushion covers to summer versions.
That is not because I "have to," but because I want to live comfortably.

"Gentle choices" are an extension of today

Tidying up the children's room together, organizing handouts, reviewing disaster prevention goods.

There are certainly many things I want to do before summer vacation, but there is no need to do them all at once.

I think it is fine to choose what I can do each day, little by little.

My heart and body are not the same every day.
That is why I made this July a "Self-Care Month."

But last night I ran out of energy and couldn't finish the fun day with my daughters. I felt a little down, as if I hadn't done things properly.

"Instead of trying hard to get things in order, enjoy the 'ways to care for yourself'"

The words I wrote on my vision sheet gently support me. I felt that I was still obsessed with doing things properly.

Let's eat the GODIVA ice cream with the children. And let me listen slowly to the "things they wanted to ask" that I couldn't hear yesterday.

Because I want to cherish the time I spend listening to what my daughters want to tell me as much as possible.

Have you been able to say "goodnight" properly lately?
Do you also tell yourself, "That's enough for today"?

Perhaps kindness should start not just for others, but by directing it toward yourself.

I will make choices that make life a little more comfortable, one by one. And I feel like a "summer that is uniquely mine" will come into view beyond that.

＼ If you like, please take a look at these too ／

▶︎ Click here for reflection and vision sheets

▶︎ A story about adjusting our family's rhythm
　a little bit at the change of the season.

▶︎ The moment I put quiet worries into words
　a story about a morning when I felt relieved.

Thank you for reading until the end!
I am so happy for your likes and comments!

The beginning of summer always comes with small adjustments.

In our daily rhythm, our time with family.
And in how we face ourselves.

Let's have a comfortable summer.
See you again!