The Happiness of Daily Life | The Heavy Washing Machine That Won't Spin

Hello! I'm Toshiko.
I am a mother of two: my eldest daughter (5th grade) who is taking it easy after refusing to go to school, and my energetic second daughter (3rd grade) who sometimes resists going to school.

Actually, I had the day off work yesterday!
And believe it or not, I have today off too!✨️

What a joy!

Although I work part-time, I work in retail, so it is very rare for me to have consecutive days off on holidays, Saturdays, or Sundays.

Today, I don't have any particular errands to run.

That's also great!

My husband has work starting in the afternoon.

That's also great! (lol)

Having absolutely no plans makes me happy.

Yesterday, I went with my daughters to my younger brother's house, which is about a 20-minute drive away.

While I was talking with my brother and his wife, my daughters were riding the exercise bike at their house. Apparently, the eldest daughter rode 2 kilometers and the second daughter rode 7 kilometers, and they were both panting (lol).

From there, we all played a card game we brought with us called
"Onsoku Hanten" (Sonic Restaurant)!

My eldest daughter will becanceling her Challenge Touch subscriptionat the end of March, and this "Onsoku Hanten" game was the final thing she exchanged her accumulated effort points for.

My eldest daughter is usually laid-back and easygoing, but she is good at this game.
She is also good at the card game Speed, so I think she has excellent reflexes and judgment.

On the way home, we stopped by a bakery that has delicious salt bread. After enjoying the bread, I tidied up the house.

Part of it was being inspired by how neatly organized my brother and his wife's house was.

Also, I saw on Instagram this morning that the Spring Equinox is a good day for decluttering!

I feel like I got rid of various clothes and paper items, but our house doesn't look that much tidier.
Even so, I feel refreshed.

And today, it's a beautiful, pleasant day with mild spring weather!

I was eager to do the laundry.
However, the washing machine couldn't spin because the fleece duvet cover became too heavy after absorbing water.

I talked to the washing machine, asking, "What's wrong? You've always been able to wash this!" while I helped it with the spin cycle.

I heaved the heavy cover out to the bathroom and squeezed out as much water as I could by pressing it.

Then I hung it over the edge of the bathtub and wrung it out like I was milking a giant cow.

Once I did that much for it, the washing machine was in a better mood, and I left the rest to it.

After that, I went to the park with my second daughter to play on the unicycle and the swings.

I have hay fever but I wonder if the pollen count is low today? The air feels so clear, and I have almost no hay fever symptoms. That makes me happy too! How wonderful.

The cherry blossoms were beautiful, too.

When I got back home, my husband, who was heading to work in the afternoon, had made fried rice for lunch, and it was so delicious—another moment of happiness.

I started writing this in the morning, but it's already afternoon.

I'm going to watch "Reboot," read a book, and just relax.

Then I'll have a snack with my daughters and relax some more.

Ah, I'm really enjoying a simple, happy long weekend.

A few years ago, I couldn't feel small happiness like this.

At home, my husband was always in a bad mood, and I was often irritable, too.

I feel sorry for my daughters about that.

My husband has changed a lot, too.
It was very difficult for our family to just laugh and talk together. It's strange, isn't it?

The four of us eating dinner together, laughing and getting along.
That was my dream.
Some people might think, "You couldn't even do that?"

We really couldn't.

Now, we can.

I think the catalyst for my husband and me changing was our eldest daughter's refusal to go to school.

Like the washing machine in the morning, we became too heavy to function, and our family stopped for a while.

At the time, I thought it was as bad as the end of the world. But in reality, it was the opposite.


It took a few years, but now we have this present where we can spend our time so relaxed and laughing.

I feel like I'm in a different world.

It looks that different.
It was an Indian summer afternoon where even the simplest daily life felt so precious.

Thank you for reading until the end. May you, too, be able to fully savor the nuances of everyday life🍀.*

[Postscript]
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